LUGANO – What watch did Tony Soprano, unforgotten star of the television series “The Sopranos” wear, on his wrist? But, evidently, a solid gold Rolex Day-Date President, costing $ 12,000 790. Tony Soprano’s wife Carmela also had a beautiful Rolex, steel and gold, while among the influential members of the mafia family we find other luxury brands such as Cartier, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet.
All this to reiterate that organized crime likes luxury items. Matteo Messina Denaro himself, in one of the rare photos that portray him, wears a Rolex. But there is more. Second gli investigatori del FIOD, Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service, the Dutch equivalent of the Guardia di Finanza, organized crime has found a way to launder money and move liquidity with fine watches.
“Watches – confirmed Thomas Bosch, the commander of the FIOD – are very popular in criminal circles and, in addition to being a status symbol, are used to pay for criminal services”. In essence, the mechanism is as follows: a man buys a watch with “dirty” money in a jewelry shop, so he cleans it up and the origin of that money is lost track. “For years already – explains a Republic Paolo Bernasconi, father of the Swiss anti-money laundering law – this fact is also a concern on the part of the FATF, the specialized agency against money laundering of the OECD. In fact, precisely for this reason, even the transactions of the jewelers have been indicated among those at risk “.
For example, in Switzerland, the quintessential homeland of watches, a country that has repeatedly been confronted, in its recent history, with investigations into the dubious origin of many capitals, jewelers are subject to anti-money laundering rules for purchases over 100,000 francs. , about 95 thousand euros. “Of course – explains Bernasconi – it is enough to make purchases in different Swiss jewelers to circumvent the anti-money laundering regulations”. In short, hypothetical Soprano’s, starting from Lugano, could stop, first in Lucerne and then in Zurich, filling up with Rolex, Cartier, Audermars Piguet and Patek Philippe, without leaving traces of their passage.
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