A lawyer from Budapest was arrested by the Hungarian authorities in connection with the police operation in Italy, during which the criminal authorities dealt a sensitive blow to the Calabrian mafia, the ‘Ndrangheta.
According to the Italian press, the raid could be decisive for the fate of the ‘Ndrangheta, and it is also valuable because it happened just 24 hours after several people from another well-known Sicilian mafia organization, Cosa Nostra, were arrested in a similar operation, La Notizia wrote. .
The case related to a network of companies formally owned by others but under the control of the mafia for money laundering stretches through Italy, Cyprus, and Oman to Hungary. According to the suspicion of the Italian authorities, the Budapest lawyer herself was a 50 percent owner of one of the companies that was under the control of the Calabrian mafia.
The lawyer was suspected of nine crimes punishable by a total of 20 years in prison, for which a European arrest warrant was in effect at the request of the Italian authorities, as a result of which the Metropolitan Court ordered her temporary arrest on Thursday, MTI wrote.
According to the suspicion, the lawyer took advantage of his status and with his accomplices formally managed the Hungarian companies registered and operated at his law office in Budapest, which at the same time were under the complete control of the leader of the criminal gang and used for illegal asset transfers, money laundering, and the laundering of proceeds from crime, the Italian writes. authorities in their press release.
The person concerned did not consent to its transfer and did not waive the right to the rules of the specialty, so no other criminal proceedings can be initiated or continued against him, apart from the actions included in the arrest warrant, they added.
The alleged perpetrator can only be handed over if the Italian judicial authority provides an appropriate legal guarantee within 40 days, i.e. until March 7, 2023, that at the request of the lawyer, in the event of a final imposition of a measure involving imprisonment or deprivation of liberty, he will be returned to Hungary to serve or execute it – wrote the MTI following the Capital Court.
It was noted that there is also another criminal case pending against the lawyer at the Capital District Court, in which the court is making inquiries as to whether the woman’s personal presence is necessary for the effective conduct of the proceedings. According to their justification, the court did not see the possibility of applying a milder coercive measure in view of the seriousness of the nine crimes and the other criminal proceedings.
According to the Italian press, the ‘Ndrangheta network, with the help of the Budapest lawyer, led Omani investors, including a minister, who were promised a 30 percent stake in a company with real estate in Budapest for one million euros.
The web of companies and money movements were revealed through wiretapping in a years-long investigation led by Nicola Gratteri, who previously highlighted a plan to change the law that, if it had already come into force, would have made the current series of arrests impossible.
