Italian police on Monday carried out searches and seizures at two Amazon websites in Italy as a part of an investigation into suspected smuggling of Chinese language items, three folks with direct information of the matter stated.
Sources stated dozens of officers from the Guardia di Finanza tax police and customs seized round 5,000 gadgets at a logistics hub run by the e-commerce large in Cividate al Piano, north of Bergamo.
At Amazon’s Italian headquarters in central Milan, police seized IT tools and recognized an Amazon supervisor chargeable for transporting items inside Italy, the folks added.
Amazon Italy couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.
New inquiry derived from earlier incident
Italian prosecutors allege that Amazon acts as a sort of “Computer virus,” permitting an as-yet-unknown variety of Chinese language merchandise to be distributed in Italy with out being correctly taxed, courtroom paperwork revealed on Monday.
Gadgets seized on the Bergamo middle included toys, cellular phone covers, air fryers, pens and small scissors.
It’s not instantly clear how these two operations will have an effect on Amazon’s actions in Italy.
This smuggling investigation is a brand new area of investigation that arose from the investigation into the 1.2 billion euro tax evasion case.
The brand new case, led by Milan public prosecutors and the Monza department of the Guardia di Finanza newspaper, fees smuggling crimes by dozens of Italian corporations, lots of that are believed to be fronts for Chinese language corporations, and managers chargeable for shifting items by means of Amazon.
Prosecutors suspect that the products are being introduced from China to the European Union after which to Italy by means of at present unknown routes with out paying gross sales tax or customs duties.
The merchandise have been then allegedly transferred to Italy and bought by way of Amazon’s market.
Milan public prosecutors are investigating it for each smuggling and violations of EU customs legislation.
In keeping with sources, exploration is anticipated to increase to different EU nations
Since final summer time, two different ongoing operations have been carried out with Amazon’s assist as a result of complexity of managing the circulation of products on the e-commerce large’s logistics hubs.
The whole variety of merchandise concerned could possibly be as excessive as 500,000, in response to three folks with direct information of the matter, and the investigation is anticipated to increase to different components of the European Union.
Milan prosecutors have been summoned to the Hague headquarters of EU legal justice cooperation company Eurojust in July, the place they introduced the scope of the investigation to their counterparts from a number of EU nations, together with Germany, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Belgium, Sweden and Eire.
It’s unclear how the case involving China will likely be considered in Washington and Brussels, the place tensions with america have escalated over the previous 12 months over disputes over tariffs and gross sales taxes.
Tax evasion: EU prosecutors additionally investigating
Within the unique 1.2 billion euro tax evasion case, Milan prosecutors investigated three managers and Amazon’s Luxembourg-based European arm for alleged tax evasion associated to on-line gross sales in Italy between 2019 and 2021.
In keeping with the investigation, Amazon’s algorithms enable it to promote merchandise in Italy from non-EU sources, primarily China, with out disclosing their identification, thereby avoiding paying Italian gross sales tax.
Beneath Italian legislation, intermediaries promoting items in Italy are collectively and severally answerable for non-payment of gross sales tax by non-EU sellers utilizing their e-commerce platforms.
Amazon stated in a earlier assertion that it’s “dedicated to complying with all relevant tax legal guidelines.”
In reference to the case, Italian tax authorities have submitted a settlement supply to Amazon, which the US group has till December to determine on.
Amazon’s tax place can be being investigated by the European Public Prosecutor’s Workplace (EPPO), which launched an investigation into Amazon’s accounts from 2021 to 2024 after new EU guidelines got here into drive imposing stricter value-added tax obligations on marketplaces.
issued – November 25, 2025 11:39 AM IST
