Loan sharking: goods worth 55 thousand euros seized from a Catania merchant VIDEO

Last Updated: May 16, 2024

Prestiti a usura, sequestro di beni per 55 mila euro a un commerciante di Catania VIDEO

The article explains that the finance police in Catania carried out a seizure of assets worth about 55,000 euros against the administrator of a clothing trading company, Gianfranco Messina. It is alleged that Messina provided loans at usurious rates to a sales agent in the same sector who was experiencing financial difficulties. The illegally obtained proceeds from these loans were then used for economic and entrepreneurial activities related to the two individuals in order to conceal their illicit origin.

It was discovered that, in the first loan of 20,000 euros, a total sum of about 44,000 euros was disbursed over nine months with an annual interest rate of 157% and a monthly rate of 210%. In a second loan of 10,000 euros, with an initial interest deduction of 3,750 euros, a total repayment of 12,500 euros was made over 9 months, with an annual rate of over 62% and a monthly rate of 83%. Despite the debtor having paid a total of about 56,500 euros, a remaining debt of 60,000 euros was unilaterally renegotiated with the demand for an additional sum.

The usurious scheme also involved a third loan of 13,000 euros, which included the signing of a debt acknowledgment for 73,000 euros, the issuance of 60 monthly bills of 1,000 euros each, and a guarantee from the victim’s partner who owned property in Aci Sant’Antonio. The defendant also received a clothing sample worth 13,000 euros to settle the last loan, and to address delays in payments, resorted to judicial measures such as injunctions and the seizure of the guarantor’s property.