May 31 2016
Today, a coordination centre at Eurojust supported an action day against a criminal network involved in international money laundering, criminal acts relating to organised bankruptcy and aggravated fraud. Starting in the early hours of the morning, approximately 50 simultaneous searches of homes and premises, more than 150 seizures of bank accounts related to the suspects and linked companies, as well as witness hearings, were carried out in Italy, Portugal and Slovenia. Operations are also ongoing in other countries.
The operation, code-named ‘Barqueiro’, was coordinated in Italy by the Prosecutor’s Office of Modena, after one year of intense investigation by the Guardia di Finanza, and led to the arrest of all six key targets (including one fugitive in Albania) and a seizure order equivalent to approximately EUR 11 million. The money represented the illicit profits of the criminal organisation, which specialised in laundering money from a variety of crimes, including organised bankruptcy, tax evasion and VAT fraud.
Eurojust was contacted in December 2015 by the Prosecutor’s Office of Modena to request judicial assistance from Portugal and Slovenia in mapping the activities of the criminal group abroad and agreeing on a common strategy. On 15 March, a coordination meeting was held at Eurojust to exchange information with the involved judicial authorities, as well as to prepare and coordinate investigative measures. Participants agreed that a joint action day would take place at the end of May 2016.