Six convictions in the “Moby Dick” case involving €520 million in VAT fraud and mafia financing

The court in Milan imposed sentences of up to seven years and two months and ordered the confiscation of more than 300 million euros. According to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, the network received money from a Camorra clan and used it in the fraud scheme, including to launder illicit proceeds. The judgment is not final.

Six people, including one of the leaders of a network that, according to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, caused losses of 520 million euros through VAT fraud, were convicted at first instance in Milan. In the “Moby Dick” case, the court ordered the confiscation of more than 300 million euros and found aggravating circumstances for supporting a mafia association and using mafia methods. The judgment may be appealed.

In brief

1.Six defendants, including one of the network’s leaders, received sentences of between four years and seven years and two months in prison. The sentences include the one-third reduction granted under the abbreviated procedure, and the judgment may be appealed.

2.The court found aggravating circumstances concerning support for a mafia association and the use of mafia methods. According to prosecutors, one of those convicted invested funds received from a Camorra clan in the network.

3.The group issued invoices worth more than 1.3 billion euros between 2020 and 2023. The budgetary losses indicated by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office amount to 520 million euros, while the confiscation of more than 300 million is a measure ordered by the court, without confirmation that the funds have been fully recovered.

4.The investigation involves more than 400 individuals and legal entities under suspicion. The six convictions do not resolve the entire case and do not establish the guilt of the other suspects.

The sentences range from four years to seven years and two months in prison. The six requested trial under the abbreviated procedure, which resulted in a one-third reduction of their sentences. The judgment was handed down on 11 September by the judge for the preliminary hearing at the Milan Court, for organizing and participating in a transnational criminal association, VAT fraud and money laundering.

The investigation shows how a tax fraud scheme could also serve to introduce mafia money into a business circuit. According to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, one of the convicted defendants received money from a Camorra clan and invested it in the network that organized the fraud. These funds increased his profits and served to launder illicit proceeds. The court accepted almost in full the reconstruction of the organization presented by the prosecution.

The network was structured into several operational cells and used companies from Italy and abroad, with activities in numerous European and non-European countries. Between 2020 and 2023, the group issued invoices for sales of AirPods, laptops and other electronic products worth more than 1.3 billion euros. This is the value of the invoices; the 520 million euros in damage indicated by prosecutors concerns losses to national and EU budgets.

The general mechanism of carousel fraud exploits the VAT treatment of transactions between companies in different Member States. A company buys goods from another Member State without paying VAT to the supplier, then resells them on the domestic market and collects the tax from the customer. The fraud occurs when the company keeps the VAT instead of remitting it to the authorities and often disappears, the European Commission explains. In “Moby Dick,” prosecutors describe a complex network of such traders, intermediaries and conduit companies.

European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kövesi stated in the press release that “mafia organizations invest in VAT fraud as a means of laundering their proceeds from crime.” She calls for combating this type of fraud to become a priority for the EU and a central element of the future European anti-fraud architecture.

One of the leaders convicted now had avoided arrest in Prague in November 2024 and remained a fugitive for six months. He surrendered in May 2025 and, according to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, has since remained subject to judicial restrictions. The press release does not identify the six convicted individuals by name.

In addition to imprisonment, the court imposed bans on holding public office, permanent for some defendants and for five years for others. One defendant was also prohibited from conducting commercial activities and holding management positions in companies. The confiscation ordered covers more than 300 million euros in proceeds from the crimes, as well as real estate and shares in companies owned by the defendants. The confiscation order does not, in itself, confirm that the money has been fully recovered.

These convictions are part of a broader investigation involving more than 400 individuals and legal entities under suspicion. In its report published in February, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office announced convictions for 20 people. The total included two members convicted of money laundering as early as November 2024, whose judgments had become final in the absence of an appeal. The status of those judgments does not extend to the six convictions announced now.

The case resulted from the merger of two investigation strands conducted by Italy’s financial police and state police, under the direction of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office offices in Milan and Palermo. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office investigates crimes affecting the EU’s financial interests, including cross-border VAT fraud causing total damage of at least 10 million euros, and supports the prosecution before the competent national courts.

https://2eu.brussels/ro/news/sase-condamnari-in-dosarul-moby-dick-privind-frauda-cu-tva-de-520-de-milioane-de-euro-si-finantarea-mafiota