A Glasgow firm set up by alleged Italian mafia money-launderers will be shut down with the loss of more than £7m in tax. Liquidators say they have unable to recover any cash from Trustcom Ltd, part of the business empire of Michele Scognamiglio, the man the Naples press has dubbed “the wizard of recycling”. The company will now be dissolved as prosecutors across Europe continue their investigation in to a suspected €2 billion scheme to clean dirty money for organised crime groups and tax evaders.
Scognamiglio and fellow Trustcom director Marco Spinola were arrested in Italy in late February in an international police operation overseen by Eurojust, the EU’s agency for criminal justice cooperation. They have been accused of using a Latvian e-money provider called Trustcom Financial UAB to launder money. Half of their clients are believe to be Italian and include people connected to the Cosa Nostra, Camorra and 'ndrangheta crime gangs.
It is not clear what - if any - relationship the Scottish company Trustcom Ltd had to the similar named Latvian institution. Liquidator Alistair McAlinden of Interpath Advisory, has now completed a final report in to the company, which will now be dissolved. In official filings he says he has been unable to find any funds to pay off creditors, most notably HMRC.
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