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| Financial Police, Provincial Command of Savona |
SAVONA - The members of the Savona Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza, acting under their institutional mandate to closely monitor financial markets, protect savings, and suppress the most serious cases of abusive investment management and capital raising, executed, under the aegis of the Savona Public Prosecutor's Office, a house arrest order issued by the local court's preliminary investigations judge against a long-time financial and banking advisor, formally retired and removed from the register since 2014. Over time, she allegedly continued to manage and collect the savings of numerous clients, some loyal from previous experiences with the banker and others new and more recent acquisitions. To the latter, she allegedly presented herself over the years as a business broker acting on behalf of a well-known Swiss banking and insurance institution.
The activity of the Guardia di Finanza originates from the analysis of operations on bank current accounts.
The crimes charged to the consultant and her immediate family members include, to varying degrees, financial abuse (Article 166 of the Consolidated Law on Finance), aggravated fraud (Article 640, paragraph 2, of the Criminal Code), money laundering (Article 648-bis of the Criminal Code), use of money, goods, or assets of illicit origin (Article 648-ter of the Criminal Code), and self-laundering (Article 648-ter, first of the Criminal Code). The Savona Guardia di Finanza's activity stems from the analysis of suspicious transactions on the bank accounts of the investigated family unit, which revealed incoming transactions, from 2020 to 2025, amounting to over five million euros, accompanied by completely generic reasons and complaints filed by individuals defrauded by the consultant, who, in some cases, became suspicious of the failure to repay funds over the past two years. The judicial police investigations, directed by the local judicial authority (the Public Prosecutor's Office), consisted of a thorough analysis of the accounts, queries to the databases used by the Corps, discussions with the sector's regulatory and supervisory bodies, and computer and telematic searches .
Woman accused of illegally collecting savings from 112 clients
This complex investigation has led to the collection of serious evidence of the crimes described above against the suspect, an expert in banking and financial law. The preliminary investigations judge charged her with illegally collecting the savings of 112 clients, promising them secure and significant returns, gaining their trust in part through the partial repayments of equity mutual fund shares over time. It was subsequently established that she had not been registered in any register maintained by the Bank of Italy, Consob, or the Order of Financial Advisors (OCF). The suspect is also accused of submitting falsified prospectuses to unsuspecting clients, either in person or via email, certifying the profitability of investments in Luxembourg-registered mutual funds. The reconstructed dynamics took the form of a fraudulent pyramid scheme known as a "Ponzi scheme," since, according to the prosecution, the proposed investments were not, in reality, made on behalf of the clients, and the acquired financial resources were transferred to the banker's current accounts, those of her closest family members, or the family company.
VAT registration opened ex officio in agreement with the local Revenue Office
The wealthy clients defrauded ranged in both age (between 30 and 70) and professional profile (from retirees to professionals, entrepreneurs, and executives of multinational companies). For the reasons described above, the seizure, including the equivalent, of all illicit profits made by the consultant and her family members was ordered, in order to ensure fair compensation for the victims of the fraud . The police therefore placed liquid assets, one luxury vehicle, and 23 properties located in Western Liguria under precautionary measures. Finally, based on a clearance granted by the judiciary, a VAT number was opened ex officio for the consultant, in agreement with the local Revenue Office, and a tax audit was conducted, resulting in the recovery of untaxed proceeds amounting to approximately €3 million.
Entities without authorisation from the supervisory authorities for intermediaries and markets
The proceedings are currently in the preliminary investigation phase, and the measures taken so far do not implicate the suspects, as no definitive decision has been made on the merits regarding the liability of the individuals under investigation. The intervention carried out by the Savona Guardia di Finanza falls within the scope of the duties assigned to the Guardia di Finanza, either exclusively or primarily, by Article 2 of Legislative Decree No. 68 of 19 March 2001, and demonstrates, in particular, the Corps' ongoing commitment to protecting savers, who are often harmed by abusive financial management practices, and to combating all forms of unfair competition carried out by entities lacking the necessary authorizations from the supervisory authorities for intermediaries and markets . The goal, in such cases, is to identify and attack all forms of illicit wealth through in-depth financial and financial investigations, reconstructing the origin and destination of the relevant financial flows, implementing a now consolidated operational strategy aimed at the systematic attack on illicitly accumulated assets.
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