News from Italy’s “Chinatown”: In a huge mask fraud case, Estar recovered nearly 2 million euros confiscated from YL Company.
The judge accepted 15 plea deals from company owners and packers who used illegal labor to produce protective equipment supplied to the region, which was then proven not to meet standards.
Estar, the agency responsible for the procurement of medical supplies for the Tuscany regional government, will return almost 2 million euros of the 3.2 million euros it has paid as the first payment for an order of 93 million masks signed by the company YL, which The Chinese company was ultimately involved in the case being investigated by prosecutors and tax police, headed by deputy prosecutors Lorenzo Gestri and Lorenzo Boscagli.
The investigation revealed a huge fraud. The victim was a regional official, and the masks ordered not only did not meet the quality requirements, but their production was subcontracted To other Chinese garment factories that employ illegal workers, even though the contract does not stipulate that the work can be outsourced. In particular, masks sewn by workers without contracts, even illegal immigrants, have lower filtration efficiency than required by contract.
A few days ago, Judge Alberto Lippini approved 15 plea negotiations. In fact, all the confiscated 1.951 million euros will be returned to Estar. The two brothers of the YL Group pleaded guilty after negotiation. Received a lenient sentence of one year and 10 months in prison, they spent last winter switching their production from clothing to protective equipment during the health emergency to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.
The conversion resulted in the two largest orders, one for 93 million masks from Estar and the other for 7 million masks ordered by the Prime Minister’s Office to be distributed to the Civil Protection Department. The total revenue should be 45 million, but of this money, YL only saw 3.2 million euros, which was the amount paid by Estar for the first batch of supplies.
Other plea deals involve the parents and an aunt/aunt of two brothers responsible for the YL company and 10 packers, all of whom are Chinese nationals, with sentences ranging from 1 year 2 months to 2 years, depending on the illegality they hired Number of laborers. YL was included in the proposed plea agreement, which called for the payment of €10,400 in compensation.
The charges range from fraud in public supplies, aggravated fraud against Estar and attempted fraud against the Prime Minister’s Office, hiring illegal workers, exploiting labor and aiding and abetting illegal migrant workers to remain in Italy for profit.
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