Italian police dismantled a mafia money-laundering operation using crypto, seizing $24M in assets.
Regulation & Gov ·
Italian financial police arrested 30 individuals involved in an underground banking operation concealed within a car-rental business on the outskirts of Milan, seizing approximately €21 million in assets including cryptocurrency, cash, jewelry, and luxury watches. The network allegedly served organized crime groups including the 'Ndrangheta and Camorra, with arrests also executed in Spain and Switzerland. Among those detained were a Guardia di Finanza inspector, a Milan court employee, and a lawyer.
The operation relied on shell companies that generated over €110 million in fraudulent invoices for services never rendered, enabling participating businesses to reduce tax obligations through cash reflows minus commissions. Approximately €68 million moved through international banking channels in Luxembourg, Lithuania, and Germany before entering cryptocurrency exchanges controlled by the network. Drug traffickers exchanged cash for digital assets or wire transfers, while the scheme also processed proceeds from online investment fraud victims.
The investigation, spanning over 500 pages of court documentation, involved Italy's financial police technology unit. Authorities have consistently flagged organized crime's deepening integration of digital assets into money-laundering infrastructure, with the 'Ndrangheta specifically noted as increasingly sophisticated in adopting cryptocurrency and modern concealment methods.