The conference “The dynamics of criminal infiltration in the economy: risks and remedies” was held on 21 March at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. The initiative, organised by Transcrime-Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and ANFACI (‘Associazione Nazionari Funzionari Amministrazione Civile dell’Interno’), brought together researchers, prefects, magistrates, representatives of companies and banks, experts and journalists to discuss the challenges and measures to combat criminal infiltration strategies in legal markets, an evolution of organised crime in Italy.
In Italy, we are not yet seeing the decline of criminal organisations, but rather their evolution, the advanced stage of which is represented by their infiltration of the legal economy. They contaminate the free market of supplies and prices; they hide the proceeds of criminal activities by laundering their capital; they bribe professionals and intermediaries, expanding the grey zone of support and complicity; they better evade seizure and confiscation orders. As the infiltration process proceeds, the criminal organisations themselves become businesses, facilitating the mafia’s governance functions.
The aim of the conference was to promote awareness of the system and the complementarity of the actors involved. Indeed, prosecution alone has shown little deterrent or rehabilitative effect in Italy. Its ability to curb criminal activity requires the support from the Prefects’ interdiction measures – to deprive the mafias of the resources that guarantee their continuity – from academic research – in the analysis of new risk factors to be translated into intelligence initiatives – and from the cooperation of banks and businesses.
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