62-year-old Neapolitan man arrested in Cassarate over financial flows

Context

TL;DR

• A 62-year-old Neapolitan man arrested in Cassarate on October 21
• Around 50 million euros between July 2025 and March 2026
• From Luxembourg, the funds were transferred to digital wallets
• The 62-year-old man held a B permit in the Canton of St. Gallen

Key facts

• What → management of cryptocurrency flows, accounts and conversions
• Where → Pero, Cassarate, Lugano and Luxembourg
• Who → 62-year-old Neapolitan man and 51-year-old Calabrian man
• Period → July 2025-March 2026
• Amount → approximately 50 million euros

On October 21, in Cassarate, a 62-year-old Neapolitan man was arrested who, in the documents of the Italian proceedings, is described as essential to the functioning of Pero’s “shadow bank,” dismantled in the Milan area. The reconstruction concerns a system in which, under the direction of ‘ndrangheta and camorra, funds from drug trafficking and tax evasion were allegedly laundered.

The path of the money

The path indicated in the documents is divided into several stages, but three steps are explicitly set out. First came the laundering through the issuing of false invoices. Then the sums were deposited into foreign accounts in Luxembourg. Finally, from those accounts, the money was diverted to digital wallets. The sequence distinguishes the financial starting point, the banking transfer and the digital destination.

According to investigators, the 62-year-old was involved in the operational part of the circuit. He handled the management of financial flows, opened the accounts and subsequently converted the money into cryptocurrencies. During the period from July 2025 to March 2026, approximately 50 million euros allegedly passed through his management. The account also links these movements to companies attributable to him: one based in Lugano, in the Canton of Ticino, and another active north of the Gotthard in the virtual currencies sector.

In the case, Cassarate and Lugano have different but both documented functions: the former is the place of the arrest; the latter is the headquarters of one of the companies mentioned. Luxembourg appears in relation to the foreign accounts from which, according to the reconstruction, the sums were allegedly diverted to digital wallets. The role described for the 62-year-old is limited to managing the flows, opening the accounts and converting the money into cryptocurrencies. The figure of approximately 50 million remains associated with the period from July 2025 to March 2026, again according to investigators.

Operational details

The profile between residence and prior convictions

From his period of residence in the Canton of St. Gallen to his prior conviction in Naples, the source reconstructs the 62-year-old man's profile based on distinct dates and locations. As RSI reported last week, he had lived in the Canton of St. Gallen from late 2022 to mid-2024, with a B permit. On Friday, it emerged that his criminal record included a conviction for fraudulent bankruptcy, handed down in 2004 by the Naples Court of Appeal, with a sentence of two and a half years in prison.

The information about his residence and that about the conviction concern different aspects of the account. The former indicates where he had lived and what residence permit he held during the period in question; the latter concerns a decision by the Naples Court of Appeal dating back to 2004. His role in the clandestine bank, meanwhile, is presented through the investigators’ reconstruction and the handling of flows dated between July 2025 and March 2026. The wording also changes: the conviction is described as a prior criminal conviction, while the transfer of around 50 million euros is phrased conditionally.

The chronological comparison lines up three distinct moments: the 2004 conviction, residence in the Canton of St. Gallen between late 2022 and mid-2024, and then the flows identified by investigators between July 2025 and March 2026. Residence, a criminal record, and the disputed financial activity are different pieces of information, with differing levels of qualification in the report.

The source adds that the 62-year-old man often came to the shores of Lake Ceresio, especially in recent times. The reference places Lugano in two parts of the reconstruction: as a place the man frequented and as the headquarters of a company linked to him. The two elements are reported separately, but they contribute to defining the city's presence in the case.

Key points

Recurring elements across investigations

In Lugano, the past of another figure identified as central to the affair also emerges. He is a 51-year-old man of Calabrian origin, one of the three people at the head of the «shadow bank». According to the report, he had already been involved in Operation «Aemilia», carried out more than ten years ago against the ’Ndrangheta in Emilia-Romagna and characterized by significant links to Ticino. Linked to the Crotone-based Arena clan, the man had facilitated the reinvestment of the clan’s illicit proceeds through a network of false invoices.

The Arzo company

The comparison with the Arzo case adds a second layer to the reconstruction. Last year, an Arzo company was among those under scrutiny in the «Mondi paralleli» investigation, concerning a tax fraud organized in the Brescia area by a mafia-style organization. The same company also appears in the records of the investigation into the Pero case. Together with other companies, it would have been used to carry out a fraudulent bankruptcy.

The concrete link between the various dossiers consists of recurring elements mentioned in the text: false invoices recur, as do the reference to Ticino and companies that have already appeared in other reconstructions. «Aemilia» is set in Emilia-Romagna and dates back more than a decade; «Mondi paralleli» concerns the Brescia area and dates back to last year; the Pero proceedings link the Arzo company to the records concerning the shadow bank. The report therefore presents different times, places and events, brought together through people and companies.

The verbs used also mark a distinction. The facilitation of the reinvestment of illicit proceeds is attributed to the 51-year-old’s past in Operation «Aemilia». For the Arzo company, by contrast, its use in the Pero case is expressed conditionally: together with others, it would have been used to carry out a fraudulent bankruptcy. According to the source, the picture therefore suggests that Ticino continues to offer organized crime a particularly favorable foothold.

Source: rsi.ch