Italian financial police have seized over €5.5 million in assets as part of an investigation into Cice Srl, a Genoa-based company formerly active in the wholesale coffee trade. Four individuals connected to the firm are under investigation for a range of alleged financial crimes, including fraudulent bankruptcy, false accounting, and improper receipt of public funds, according to reports from Italy.
The company, fully named Consorzio Italiano per il Commercio Estero Srl, entered judicial liquidation in November 2024 after a period of financial distress. The investigation by the Guardia di Finanza focuses on the company's management and financial reporting in the years preceding its collapse. The seizure order targeted 17 properties, bank accounts, and company shares, with the total value corresponding to public loans the company received during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prosecutors allege that the company misrepresented its financial health to obtain approximately €5.5 million in state-guaranteed loans between 2020 and 2022. The core of the accusation is that Cice's balance sheets improperly inflated the value of its coffee warehouse inventories to conceal significant losses dating as far back as 2014. The probe also reportedly examines specific commercial operations, including the alleged sale of coffee to a related Swiss entity at below-market prices, only to be repurchased at a higher cost, and the use of non-existent coffee stock as collateral to renegotiate debt with a creditor.