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There is no peace for tax credits. After the billion-dollar frauds that involved the facade bonus, the building ones in general, il 110% or the tax credit for Aid to the economic growth of businesses, better known as Ace, the holiday bonus has also carved out a place in the list of tax breaks used illegally, the one introduced in the midst of the pandemic by the Conte government with the relaunch decree to support the tourism sector hit hard by the lockdowns resulting from Covid. The fraud was brought to light this hot summer after four years by the Provincial Command of Rimini.
The protests of the Fiamme Gialle
In the middle of Ferragosto 2024, in fact, the Finance Police of the Provincial Command of Rimini carried out some preventive seizures issued by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of movable and immovable securities for over one million euros. The seizure concerned companies that manage seven well-known hotel facilities on the Riviera Romagnola. The seizure concerned, explains a note from the Gdf, large sums of money in cash, luxury watches and jewelry. Ten individuals were investigated in various capacities for criminal association, fraud against the State and aggravated fraud for the obtaining of public funds.
The holiday bonus that was the subject of the fraud
The specialists of the Economic and Financial Police Unit took to the field, and with the support of the reports provided by the Special Unit for Public Spending and Repression of Community Fraud, they acquired evidence of a real fraud against the State thanks to the improper use of the tax credit of up to 500 that was generated by the contribution granted to large families with an ISEE of up to 40 thousand euros for the payment of services and tourist packages offered in Italy by tourist accommodation companies, travel agencies and tour operators as well as agritourism and bed & breakfasts. The contribution that, moreover, traveled on the IO App.
Social networks and databases to track down illicit activities
The financial police have revealed, in the case of prosecution, a complex fraudulent scheme that involved the transfer of “holiday bonuses” through the use of various social platforms. The codes, thus transferred, were “downloaded” by the hotel facilities for “ghost” stays that in reality never took place and used to offset taxes or transferred to suppliers as a tax credit. The winning weapon this time was also the use of the Gdf’s IT backbone and the cross-referencing of data. The technicians monitored the social networks as well as the numerous details of the hotel’s functionality, even going so far as to detect the flows of electricity supplied in the individual facilities so as to prove their non-operation in the periods in which the bonuses were “cashed”. Some accommodation facilities were even closed due to coercive measures issued by the Municipalities of Rimini and Riccione. The vastness of the reconstructions allowed us to identify over 2,800 illegally obtained bonuses and connect over 50 fraud complaints that had been filed throughout the country.
