The Swissleaks investigation has already achieved several results: that of revealing a worldwide tax evasion system conducted through the Geneva branch of HSBC, and that of disclosing some of the names of the more than 100 current account holders (7 Italians) included in the list stolen by the 'former computer scientist Falciani, of course, but the most relevant result, seen from here, is the laying bare of the impotence of the Italian tax authorities, which seems to have given up in the face of the most sophisticated forms of illegality and evasion.
5 years after the delivery of the 7 Italian names (among which those of Flavio Briatore, Valentino Rossi and the stylist Valentino stand out) contained in the Falciani list, the data published by the newspapers is disheartening: only 190 of the account holders of the Geneva branch of HSBC had to pay the full price of its evasion, while the Guardia di Finanza conducted checks on just under half of the positions, i.e. 3.276, 1.264 of which were closed thanks to joining the 2009 Tremonti tax shield.
For the cold numbers, the Finance has ascertained "undeclared income for 741 million euros, VAT due and not paid for 4 million 520 thousand euros", but has so far collected only 30 million, a trifle compared to the one billion and 669 million euros returned to Italy thanks to the shield and therefore protected from the intrusion of the taxman.
A blow in the sponge not only tax, but also criminal. Among the various problems related to the acquisition of evidence and the territorial dispersion of the investigations, the vast majority of current account holders on the Falcioni list got away with it in the eyes of Italian law, between a few indictments and many filings due to the statute of limitations of the crime.
The investigations are complex for various reasons, the investigators explain. Although evasion is conceivable as the origin of some capitals, in many cases the statute of limitations has already been triggered, in others there is a problem of acquiring evidence.
Among the VIPs who entered the Falciani list, Flavio Briatore defends himself. In an interview with La Stampa, regarding the 8 HSBC accounts disputed against him, he explains that they referred to "pilots, television rights and other activities not carried out in Italy". And he adds: “Evader is someone who takes the money in Italy and takes it out to avoid paying Italian taxes. And that's not really my case. I can have accounts where my companies operate. Also in Switzerland, with all permits. And in England since I have my residence there". Briatore explains that he hasn't lived in Italy for almost thirty years.
