The investigations concern illegal job offers and false invoices.
“The investigative hypotheses relate to complex tax frauds resulting from the use by two final beneficiaries of an illegal mechanism of invoicing legally non-existent operations in exchange for the conclusion of fictitious contracts for the supply of labour, in breach of sectoral regulations, which led to the issuance and subsequent use of false documents,” explains prosecutor Marcella Viola in the Italian daily La Repubblica.
In short, Kuehne+Nagel allegedly filed “false tax returns using invoices for transactions that did not take place”. Invoices issued by subcontractors for alleged employment contracts subject to VAT therefore only served to conceal actual temporary employment. This system allowed large companies to hire workers at “extremely competitive rates” through subcontractors and front companies in logistics and goods handling.
As part of the investigation, company premises were searched and computers were seized. The local financial police confiscated 16.5 million euros from the group’s Italian subsidiary. Kuehne+Nagel confirmed that the investigation was ongoing and that it intended to cooperate with the authorities. In the case of Iperal, the seizure also amounted to around 16.5 million euros. The seizure must be confirmed within ten days by the judge in charge of the preliminary investigation.
In addition to the confiscation, the prosecutor’s office has added the president of Iperal and the head of the Italian branch of Kuehne+Nagel to the register of suspects. Both companies face consequences under the Administrative Liability Act.
