Italian authorities have arrested 30 people and seized €21 million in assets in an investigation into an alleged underground bank that prosecutors say laundered money for several organized-crime groups through a car-rental business near Milan.
Alleged hidden bank near Milan
The operation was conducted by the Guardia di Finanza, Italy’s financial police, under orders from Milan anti-mafia prosecutors. Sixteen suspects were taken into custody and 14 were placed under house arrest. Arrests were also made in Spain and Switzerland.
According to Decrypt, the investigation centers on a car-rental business in Pero, on the outskirts of Milan. Prosecutors allege that the operation was run by three Italians: two people described as long-standing contacts of ’Ndrangheta clans from Crotone, and a member of the Camorra’s Casalesi clan. Chinese and Albanian associates allegedly helped manage the network.
The groups named in the investigation include the ’Ndrangheta, the Camorra and organized-crime groups from Foggia in southern Italy. Those arrested or otherwise implicated also include a Guardia di Finanza inspector, a Milan court employee, a lawyer and a former member of the financial police.
Fake invoices and crypto transfers
Investigators say shell companies issued more than €110 million in invoices for services that were never provided. Businesses allegedly used the invoices to reduce their tax bills, paid the companies by bank transfer and then received most of the money back in cash after a commission was deducted.
Prosecutors estimate that about €68 million was transferred abroad. Funds held in the shell companies’ bank accounts were allegedly sent to institutions in Luxembourg, Lithuania and Germany before being routed through crypto exchanges into wallets controlled by the network.
The suspected system allegedly served clients who wanted to move illicit cash. Drug traffickers who supplied cash are said to have received cryptocurrency or international bank transfers in return. Investigators also allege that the network processed money stolen from victims of online cryptocurrency investment scams.
The seizure includes cash, bank balances, cryptocurrency, boats, jewelry and luxury watches. Italian authorities’ case file runs to more than 500 pages, while the Guardia di Finanza’s technology-fraud unit assisted with the investigation.
Wider concern over organized crime and digital assets
The case highlights how investigators say traditional criminal organizations are using financial technology alongside banks and cash. Italy’s Anti-Mafia Investigative Directorate warned in 2021 that criminal organizations, including mafia groups, had an interest in using digital assets and the deep web for their activities.
The arrests do not establish guilt, and the allegations will be addressed through Italy’s judicial process. The involvement of public officials and legal professionals also broadens the investigation beyond suspected money movement, with the financial-police inspector facing house arrest on corruption allegations and the Milan court employee accused of leaking information about investigations.
Current crypto market picture
Moneyiar market data at 23:23 on October 22, 2026, show declines across the three listed assets:
- NEAR Protocol (NEAR): $4.8637831663, down 7.74% over 24 hours and 7.29% over seven days.
- Polygon (prev. MATIC) (POL): $0.0901870513, down 4.97% over 24 hours and 5.31% over seven days.
- Sei (SEI): $0.0568803431, down 9.08% over 24 hours and 8.46% over seven days.
