7 arrested in Italy, Germany in swoop on fake luxury car rentals

MILAN — Seven people have been arrested in Italy and Germany as part of coordinated action against money laundering through fake long-term rentals of luxury cars, Eurojust, the EU Agency for criminal justice co-operation, said on Thursday (Dec 14).

Investigations by authorities in the two countries started in 2019, Eurojust said in a statement, adding the alleged criminal network's proceeds that were being laundered stemmed from drug trafficking, extortion and illegal betting on behalf of other criminals.

The network primarily used a German-registered agency to rent out over 150 vehicles via bogus three and four year contracts to customers in Italy, who paid for their monthly instalments with the proceeds of criminal activities.

Eurojust said the arrested suspects were linked to the Camorra mafia criminal organisation, which is centred around Naples in southern Italy.

Authorities seized the car hire agency and other assets including a real estate complex, almost 100 vehicles, as well as cash, jewellery and watches.

They also froze 14 German bank accounts totalling 142,000 euros (S$207,277).

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