According to comprehensive reports from foreign media:
On Tuesday, December 24, the Florence Provincial (Firenze) tax police conducted a series of investigations and verifications before Christmas, and finally arrested a 30-year-old man before Christmas. A Chinese businessman in Osmannoro was arrested and sentenced to 2 to 8 years in prison for embezzling and selling fake brand-name materials.
In fact, the Chinese businessman was discovered because the tax police inspected a number of Chinese clothing and luggage manufacturing factories and learned that the materials for manufacturing high-quality imitation goods came from a Chinese company. Therefore, the tax police decided to cut off the manufacturers and suppliers of high-imitation goods at the source. The tax police found 11,000 pieces of high-imitation clothing, bags, mobile phone cases and accessories of various brands from various countries in the warehouse of the Chinese company, as well as a kilometer-long piece of high-imitation brand printed fabrics, with a total value of 110,000 euros.
Law enforcement officials said that for the sake of fair competition in the market and protection of brands, such actions will continue in 2020.
Since last month, the Italian tax police have focused on Chinese businessmen’s “leather bag companies”, and 12 million euros of “profits” have been uncovered, while millions of euros in taxes have been evaded.
A Chinese clothing manufacturer owner in Prato, Italy, was prosecuted by the local financial police for concealing income of up to 12 million euros through fraudulent means, thus achieving tax avoidance, amounting to as much as 6 million euros.
This 38-year-old Chinese man has been targeted by the police for some time. After collecting evidence through a series of visits, inspections, investigations and other means, the police discovered that the Chinese businessman had evaded taxes by opening a fake company and then moving business in various leather companies.
In addition, the Chinese businessman also engaged in illegal money laundering through unofficial transactions, amounting to approximately 2.7 million euros. At the end of the inspection, the Prato Court Prosecutor’s Office indicted a total of four people on charges of fraud, concealment of income, etc., including the Chinese businessman and three of his compatriots (all legal representatives of the leather bag company).
The Italian joint inspection team is “very dissatisfied” with regular Chinese factories and will not stop until problems are found.
At the beginning of the month, the gendarmerie, labor inspection bureau, and local police of the Mantua region in the Lombardy region went to a Chinese sock manufacturing factory in the town of Asola (Mantova) to conduct a raid. examine. Law enforcement officers found that the eight Chinese workers in the factory all had work residence permits, and all workers had formal employment contracts. The facilities and safety systems of the small factory were all up to standard.
It stands to reason that factories or companies that comply with regulations should be praised by local law enforcement agencies, but this group of law enforcement officers are “very dissatisfied” with regular Chinese factories.
After further investigation, it was found that these Chinese workers worked more than 12 hours a day, and the wages they received each month were inconsistent with the labor contracts. On this basis, the factory’s owners, a Chinese couple, were arrested for labor exploitation and work contract fraud. All production machines and production materials in the factory with a total value of 100,000 euros were confiscated. The Chinese boss’s brother was also charged by the police for his involvement in factory management.
It is reported that during the inspection of the textile manufacturing industry in Lombardy in 2019, it was discovered that many textile factories secretly continued production after being inspected. Some local law enforcement agencies turned a blind eye. In order to prevent this phenomenon from happening again, the Provincial Governor-General of the Lombardy Region convened the gendarmerie, local police, labor inspection bureau, health bureau, and other relevant agencies to jointly conduct joint inspections. Moreover, these agencies must supervise each other to avoid cover-up. The phenomenon of illegal enterprises occurs.
In July this year, many Chinese companies were raided by Italy, and hundreds of thousands of euros in assets were seized.
Prato police conducted a raid and Chinese businesses were suspended from operations.
According to the Italian Notiziediprato website, on July 10, the Prato police and the Labor Inspectorate conducted a joint surprise inspection of a local Chinese company. The police found that most of the employees employed by the Chinese company were Chinese and Africans. There were 15 employees without any form of labor contract, and 6 of them were illegal immigrants. Subsequently, the Chinese company was ordered to suspend operations. Chinese business owners were prosecuted for assisting and employing illegal immigrants and exploiting labor. Police also obtained video surveillance from inside the business for further investigation. Investigators said they do not rule out taking more sanctions against the Chinese company and its boss in the coming days. According to reports, this is the third time the company has been raided. Previously, the Chinese company was also found to have illegally hired workers.
The police raided a Chinese textile factory and seized 200,000 euros in equipment and goods
A few days ago, in a small town in the province of Mantova, the police raided a local Chinese textile factory. Surprise inspections were also conducted.
The Italian Giornaledimantova website reported that at around 11:00 on the night of July 4, the local police in Mantua Province, the Labor Inspectorate, the Industrial Accident Insurance Bureau INAIL, and the Social Security Bureau INPS jointly launched an operation to arrest a local Chinese family. Textile factories were raided.
According to reports, a total of 15 workers were working in the textile factory at the time. When they noticed the inspectors arriving, some workers immediately stopped working and tried to escape, but were stopped by the police. These workers include Chinese and Bangladeshis. Inspectors found that all 15 workers did not have any form of labor contract, while fourFound to be an illegal immigrant.
In addition, the inspectors found that the living conditions of these workers were very poor. There were no special dormitories for them to live in. They had to live in factory buildings. Their rooms were very small and only separated by gypsum boards or cardboard. open.
The four illegal immigrants who were discovered were subsequently initiated deportation proceedings by the Mantua Police Department. The 45-year-old Chinese owner of the textile factory was arrested and will be prosecuted for illegal exploitation of workers and illegal employment of labor. At the same time, an administrative penalty of approximately 40,000 euros will also be imposed. At the same time, the textile factory was ordered to suspend operations, and equipment and goods with a total value of approximately 200,000 euros were seized.
Italy’s exports from January to October were 398.282 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 2.7%
Data recently released by the Italian National Bureau of Statistics website show that from January to October In March, Italy exported 398.282 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 2.7%, and imported 355.344 billion euros, a year-on-year decrease of 0.1%, with a surplus of 43.038 billion euros. Among them, exports to EU countries were 224.161 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 1.3%, and imports from EU countries were 208.797 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 0.3%. Exports to non-EU countries were 174.121 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 4.4%, and imports from non-EU countries were 146.447 billion euros, a year-on-year decrease of 0.5%.
Since the international financial crisis, Italy has fallen into economic recession twice, from 2008 to 2009 and from 2012 to 2014. Italian official statistics at the beginning of this year showed that due to the continuous decline in GDP in the second half of last year, Italy will enter its third economic recession.
The Italian Federation of Craftsmen and Small Businesses’ early-year report also shows that from 2000 to 2018, the average annual GDP growth in Italy was 0.2%, close to “zero growth.”
Faced with such a grim economic situation, the “One Belt, One Road” initiative from the East will surely become an improved prescription for Italy’s new round of infrastructure upgrades and trade connectivity. In 2018, Italy was China’s fifth largest country in the EU China is Italy’s largest trading partner in Asia. Today, with the “One Belt, One Road” memorandum just signed, Italian and Chinese businessmen have more reason to believe that close cooperation will definitely make the ancient Silk Road bear richer fruits. </p
