Italian Police Bust Mafia 'Secret Bank' Using Crypto for Money Laundering, Seize $23.6M

Italian police arrested 30 people linked to a mafia-run 'hidden bank' operating from a car-rental business near Milan, seizing €21 million (about $23.6 million) in assets, including cryptocurrency. The network, linked to 'Ndrangheta and Camorra groups, issued over €110 million in fake invoices to help businesses evade taxes and moved about €68 million abroad, partially through crypto exchanges into wallets controlled by the network in Luxembourg, Lithuania, and Germany. The investigation also implicated a financial police inspector, a Milan court employee, and a lawyer.