Mafia launders dirty money in clean energy

The Italian mafia is ramping up investment in wind farms to launder money and benefit from EU subsidies.

Europol reports winds farms, and renewable energy in general, are the most popular target for laundering money, after analysing the financial activities of Italy's four mafia groups.

"The Italian mafia is investing more and more in renewable energy, especially in wind farms, to profit from generous European grants paid for by member states which allow them to mix dirty money with legitimate economic activities," the report said.

The renewables industry – is one of the country’s most promising sectors that have surged even as the rest of the economy slid into recession, globalpost.com reports. Developers built more wind and solar plants in 2012 than in any previous year, and added 5,000 jobs to a country racked with unemployment, according to the article.

The boom is explained by the most generous renewable incentives in the world, globalpost.com quotes Andrea Gilardoni, an economist at Milan’s Bocconi University.

“They were so high that all kinds of people have become involved,” he said. “Even cats and dogs can make money in this kind of climate.”

The government gave out more than $75 billion to producers of wind and solar energy over the past six years, doubling and sometimes even tripling their revenues, globalpost.com reports.

Earlier this year Italy made its biggest confiscation of mafia assets in history, including dozens of alternative energy companies worth a total of over $1.6 billion, Reuters quotes police.

You mean to say Obummer's Green Jobs' plan might have a few mafiosos playing a role? Really??? That's it, I refuse to vote for Barry if he usurps the US constitution and tries to run for a 3rd-Term. Somebody better take away his 'Executive Authority' pen before it's too late.

You mean to say Obummer's Green Jobs' plan might have a few mafiosos playing a role?

It had to be good for something to last this long.

2 posted on 07/08/2013 2:30:42 AM PDT by clearcarbon

You mean like what zero and gore are doing here?

3 posted on 07/08/2013 2:48:58 AM PDT by ronnie raygun (Yesterdays conspiracies are todays truths)

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