Unveiling the Rental Car Scam

The Guardia di Finanza of Palermo has notified investigations to 22 people residing in Sicily and across the national territory for a fraud involving the sale of rental cars. The suspects are accused of various offenses including falsification of public documents, self-laundering, and embezzlement, amounting to nearly one and a half million euros. The investigations started from the Gdf in Bagheria, which had discovered a major fraud conducted by Alessio Spiaggia, 31, who was definitively sentenced to 8 years in prison. The network of alleged accomplices was reconstructed. The organization rented the cars and then, through compliant agencies, registered them for sale with the help of dealers willing to do so, using false documentation that made it difficult to trace the vehicles. The profits were the difference between the rental cost, of which only the first installments were paid, and the revenue obtained from selling the cars at market price. The cars were rented from companies located in the main airports of the island, such as Palermo, Catania, but also in Naples, Rome, and Turin. One of the cars was recovered in Germany.