Italian authorities have accused owners of international Pietro Barbaro Group of tax fraud of more than EUR 100 million, the Italian media reported.
During the probe into a tax fraud case, the Prosecutor of Palermo Jerry Ferrara filed charges against Pietro Barbaro - the principal owner of Pietro Barbaro Group, his daughter Federica Barbaro and his family members, Alfredo and Giovanni Barbaro. They charged with tax evasion and money laundering while purchasing six ships in South Korea and other tax crimes. Police in Italy have searched several offices and homes of owned by the family. The large-scale international investigation into the case is being conducted in Italy, Spain, Luxembourg, Poland, Finland, Dubai and Monaco.
According to PortNews the Group also owns some shipping assets in Russia, as the founder of Samara-based shipping company Prime Shipping, which operates a fleet of 14 river and sea-going vessels and five ATBs transporting oil products.
From January through November 2011 Prime Shipping boosted the oil products traffic by 29% year-over-year to 1,452,000 tons.
Experts in Russia do not rule out the Italian authorities probe into the Pietro Barbaro case may lead to the arrest of the Prime Shipping’s fleet.