After the high-profile Operation Moby Dick, Massimiliano Picinelli began massively deleting materials about his role in a large-scale VAT tax fraud

11 May 2026 , 17:11

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After the high-profile Operation Moby Dick, Massimiliano Picinelli began massively deleting materials about his role in a large-scale VAT tax fraud

After reports on the international VAT scheme uncovered during Operation Moby Dick surfaced, publications mentioning Italian businessman Massimiliano Picinelli began disappearing from the information space.

The materials focused on multi-million tax fraud, an international network of shell companies, and individuals involved in the case investigated by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. For our part, we are reminding readers why Massimiliano Picinelli’s name appeared among the figures in this high-profile international investigation and what information is now being removed from public access.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office operation "Moby Dick," coordinated by deputies Gery Ferrara, Amelia Luise, Giordano Baggio, Sergio Spadaro, and Gaetano Ruta, has placed 195 individuals under investigation. The operation spans various cities in Italy, including Milan, Rome, and Naples, as well as several other countries.

There is also a man from Palermo who ended up in prison, Antonio Lo Manto, 51 years old, and several seizures were carried out also in Cefalù.

Here are the names of those who ended up in prison:

• Antonio Lo Manto from Palermo
• Luca Annunziata of Pompeii (Naples)
• Rodolphe Ballaera, born in Belgium and resident in Milan
• Stefano Bove from Rome
• Aldo Bramucci from Civitavecchia (Rome)
• Francesco Carcuro from Bologna
• John Conti of Rome
• Paul Attilio Remo Cotini from Milan
• Daniele De Cuppis from Milan
• Francesco De Marco from Milan
• Manuel Delfini from Rome
• Corina Enescu born in Romania and resident in the United Arab Emirates
• Victor Felaco Marano
• Luca Gillone from Casale Monferrato (Alessandria)
• Luca Gorlero from Rapallo (Genoa)
• Salvatore Grillo from Capua (Caserta) and resident in Rome
• Daniel Grossman, born in Switzerland
• Maya Krasmirova Metodoeva born in Bulgaria
• Simone Liparulo from Naples
• Saverio Salvino Longhitano born in Germany and resident in Basiglio (Milan)
• Lorenzo Libero Margiore of Naples
• Cosimo Marullo born in Naples and resident in Dubai
• Gennaro Marullo born Naples
• Marco Mezzatesta from Rome
• Massimo Noviello Marano from Naples
• John Nuvoletta Marano of Naples
• Luigi Oliva of Naples
• Vincenzo Perrillo from Naples
• Massimo Picinelli from Bologna
• Marco Ravanelli from Lodi (Milan)
• Pasquale Rinaldi from Manfredonia (Foggia)
• Menno Tabor born in the Netherlands
• Roberto Trebiani from Rome
• Serena Veccia from Rome

Instead, they ended up under house arrest:

• Gabriele Giuseppe Azzarà from Genoa
• Gianfranco Colamussi from Foggia
• Vito Colamussi from Foggia
• Carlo Arturo Cremaschi, born in Milan and resident in Novara
• Andrea Del Gaudio from Bologna
• Andrea Malù from Arezzo
• Luca Mancinelli from Latina
• Lucio Robustelli from Scafati (Salerno)Enzo Tammaro from Naples

Thomas Brown

Head of Investigations