Monday, March 19, 2012

Sixteen Mafia Owned Tax Judges Arrested in Campania, $1.3 Billion Assets Seized

From Corriere della Sera:

Financial police arrest eight tax tribunal officers in Camorra swoop
MILAN – At least sixteen tax magistrates, eight tax tribunal officer, a prominent lawyer who also teaches at university, and an accountant are among those arrested in the Naples area in the course of an operation against Camorra gangs. Magistrates have ordered three of the sixteen judges to be remanded in custody while the other thirteen have been placed under house arrest. In the course of inquiries, investigators are believed to have identified dozens of corruption-tainted tax disputes that led to sentences in favour of the often Camorra-implicated appellants, to the detriment of the public purse.

ARRESTS – A total of sixty pre-trial supervision measures were issued following requests by the Naples anti-Mafia directorate. Twenty-two are for preventive custody, twenty-five are for house arrest and thirteen are bans on residing in Naples. Magistrates, tax officials and clerks – all of whom worked at the Naples provincial tax tribunal or the Campania regional tribunal – subject to house arrest are joined by a member of the taxpayer ombudsman’s office. An official at the Naples tax agency has been banned from residing in Naples....MORE
And from the Beeb:

 Judges held in Italy Naples mafia swoop
...Buildings, cars and property worth 1bn euros (£829m; $1.3bn) were seized around Naples and in northern Italy.

The names of the detained 16 judges have not been revealed.
The police said the focus of the operation was the Fabroccino clan, which is believed to have bribed officials to obtain favourable court judgements.

The clan has become notorious for extortion and drug trafficking, but the police say they are also investigating its involvement in buying and selling property, hotel management and the food industry....