Italian Police Bust Mafia Shadow Bank in €68M Crypto Laundering Probe

Italian financial police dismantled an organized crime financial network accused of running an underground bank that moved €68 million through cryptocurrencies, authorities said on Oct. 21 ¹. The Guardia di Finanza units in Milan and Monza Brianza arrested 30 suspects on charges of criminal association aggravated by mafia-style methods, alongside €21 million in underway asset seizures ¹. Coordinated cross-border operations also spanned Spain and Switzerland, supported by Interpol's I-CAN initiative ¹.

Prosecutors in Milan stated the criminal ring connected members of the 'Ndrangheta, the Camorra, and Foggia's Fourth Mafia, backed by Albanian and Chinese collaborators ¹. Operatives conducted the shadow banking platform behind a car-rental front in Pero, near Milan, controlled by three Italian figures with previous mafia convictions, including the Casalesi clan and Crotone-linked factions ¹. The scheme issued more than €110 million in false invoices via shell companies to disguise illicit money ¹. Clients paid bogus invoices through wire transfers, after which couriers returned physical cash derived from drug trafficking and tax evasion ¹. The accumulated balances were subsequently routed to foreign accounts or converted into cryptocurrencies to bypass anti-money laundering controls ¹.

Cross-Border Enforcement and Judicial Infiltration

More than 350 officers, including anti-terrorism rapid response personnel, executed searches seizing cryptocurrencies, bank balances, vehicles, boats, and cash-counting devices ¹. Among the detained is Domenico Bruno, a driver assigned to the Milan Preliminary Investigating Magistrate's Office overseeing seized property, who faces house arrest over alleged unauthorized computer access ¹. A Milan attorney was also implicated by prosecutors alongside the mafia figures ¹.

Law enforcement agencies globally continue to target transnational shadow banking networks that blend traditional shell company infrastructure with digital assets, echoing similar efforts such as enforcement actions against Asian crypto laundering syndicates.