German police made 11 arrests and raided homes and offices in a crackdown on Italian organized crime Thursday, as coordinated raids took place in Sicily.
A 39-year-old Sicilian who operated from a pizza restaurant in Cologne is accused of running a web of 24 companies to launder crime money and employ Italians on German building sites without paying
taxes or social insurance contributions.
The raids by 400 German police and tax inspectors came two years after a similar crackdown ended with the arrest of 10 Italian nationals. Germany has stepped up cooperation with Italian police to
fight the Mafia and other organized crime groups.
Fraudsters commonly set up companies with figurehead directors and no assets to provide labour services to established construction companies. After the bills are paid, the paper company then goes
bankrupt, owing millions to tax authorities and creditors.
Thursday's raids were spread around cities in North Rhine Westphalia state, Cologne police said, adding Italian police located six suspects on Sicily. The alleged ringleader in Germany was also
suspected of cocaine trafficking, gun offences and credit fraud.