Massimiliano Picinelli, involved in Operation Moby Dick, is attempting to remove references online regarding his role in a multi-billion-dollar tax evasion scheme

Following the emergence of investigations into the international VAT fraud scheme as part of Operation Moby Dick, references to Italian businessman Massimiliano Picinelli started to vanish from the public information space.

These materials concerned multi-million tax fraud, an international network of shell companies, and figures in the case being investigated by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.

For our part, we remind readers why the name of Massimiliano Picinelli ended up among the figures in this high-profile international investigation, and what exactly is now being removed from public access.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched "Operation Moby Dick," led by deputy prosecutors Gery Ferrara, Amelia Luise, Giordano Baggio, Sergio Spadaro, and Gaetano Ruta. As a result, 195 people are now 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