Arrest in the Netherlands after Italian investigation into VAT fraud: link with Naples mafia
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Marcel Vink

Modified: 51 min ago52 min agoin Domestic

MILAN - A Dutch citizen has been arrested at the request of Italian justice after an extensive investigation in the southern European country into large-scale VAT fraud. A link is being made to the Camorra, the Neapolitan mafia.


This is reported by media in the country. The detainee - probably a Dutch citizen, although this has not been confirmed - was arrested after a European arrest warrant was issued. The suspect is said to be part of a network that had set up a system to evade taxes. This concerns VAT on the trade in computer products and the laundering of the profits that were made with it.

'Moby Dick'
The arrest was made at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Milan, Palermo and the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) during a major multi-country operation dubbed 'Moby Dick', which also saw the seizure of assets and cash worth over €520 million from companies involved, the police explained in a statement.


In addition to those arrested, 200 people are under investigation and the involvement of 400 companies is being investigated. Assets were also seized for money laundering on several residential and real estate complexes worth more than 10 million euros in Cefalú (Palermo, on the island of Sicily). In addition, false invoices worth 1.3 billion euros were discovered, covering the period 2020-2023. The fraud was committed through fictitious economic entities and ghost companies.

Mafia
The suspects, mostly from Italy, are also suspected of investing their profits from the tax fraud with the Camorra, the Neapolitan mafia. More than 160 searches have been carried out in numerous provinces of Italy, at homes, offices and businesses attributed to the suspects, law enforcement officials said.

See also:

Three Dutch people arrested in Spain, 16 million euros worth of crypto seized

House searches have also been carried out in other EU countries, such as the Netherlands, but also Spain, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, and other countries such as Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.