60-million-franc fraud: three defendants to stand trial in October

A fraud worth 60 million francs is bringing three men before the Criminal Court. It is a sum rarely seen in Ticino's courts. The case concerns the Lugano region directly: it is where the company is based to which the victim entrusted his assets.

The victim is a Georgian citizen living in Dubai. Between spring 2022 and July 2023, the man entrusted his assets to that company based in Lugano, persuaded by the promise of profitable investments in a Luxembourg fund. According to investigators, however, the fund did not have the structure required under European directives, contrary to what he had been assured. The money is also alleged to have been used improperly, benefiting the three defendants and others.

The investigation led to the seizure of around ten million francs. Of the remaining fifty million, however, there is no trace.

The arrests took place in the second half of 2025 and involved three different countries. An Italian man living in Lugano was arrested. Also arrested were a Belgian man, caught in Luxembourg, and an Iranian man, apprehended in Germany: the nationalities involved and the locations of the arrests show the international scope of the investigation. Since then, the three have been held in the cantonal prison, awaiting trial.

Trial in October

Deputy Attorney General Chiara Borelli indicted the three men in recent weeks, it emerged on Wednesday. Before the Criminal Court, they will face charges of fraud and forgery of documents, which they deny. They are represented respectively by lawyers Rosa Cappa, Davide Ceroni and Giovanni Molo.

The court, which also includes lay judges, will be presided over by judge Amos Pagnamenta. Borelli intends to seek prison sentences of more than five years for the defendants. The trial will take place in October, about a year after the first arrests.