Lugano: international fraud worth 60 million ends in convictions

The Lugano Assize Criminal Court delivered its verdict on Thursday in the trial over an international financial fraud worth around 60 million francs, of which only about ten million has been recovered. Judge Amos Pagnamenta found the three defendants guilty of fraud and forgery of documents, upholding the prosecution's case. The sentences range from three to five and a half years in prison; all three were also ordered expelled from Switzerland.

The trial took place the previous week before the same court. The main defendant is a 60-year-old Italian financial consultant who was active in Lugano: the lawyer for his co-defendant, an Iranian national, described him as «Leonardo da Vinci della falsificazione» (the Leonardo da Vinci of forgery). The other two defendants are a 51-year-old Iranian national and a Belgian entrepreneur of the same age, who was active in Luxembourg.

The scheme between Dubai, Luxembourg and London

According to the prosecution, between 2022 and 2024 the three men set up a fraudulent scheme spanning Lugano, Dubai, Luxembourg and London. The victim is a wealthy Georgian national living in Dubai, who wanted to move his wealth to Europe, which he considered safer. An Iranian acquaintance introduced him to the Italian consultant, who proposed an investment structure based in Luxembourg and managed by the Belgian entrepreneur.

The money then flowed into a fund in London that the Georgian national believed he controlled, based on documents that turned out to be fake and created with artificial intelligence. According to the prosecution, the three defendants used the money for personal benefit.

Deputy Attorney General Chiara Borelli had requested harsher sentences: seven and a half years in prison and ten years' expulsion for the Italian consultant, six and a half years in prison and ten years' expulsion for the Iranian national, and three and a half years in prison and five years' expulsion for the Belgian entrepreneur.