Danish CO2 quotas part of colossal Italian fraud case

Billions may have been used to finance terrorism

Danish CO2 emission quotas going awry is a central component in an ongoing VAT-fraud case in Italy involving at least 38 people. It is alleged that Italian taxpayers may have been cheated out of 8.5 billion kroner and that the funds may have been used, among other things, to finance terror.

The scandal was revealed after a joint British and US operation against the Taliban in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan found documents in a cave, according to the Italian newspaper Corriere dela Serra.

“According to my sources, the documents that were found in the cave indicate the money swindled in this case has been used to finance terrorism,” Giuseppe Guastella, a journalism with Corriere dela Serra, told DR Nyheder.

READ MORE: Denmark among the biggest swindlers when it comes to getting EU funding

Fake address in Hvidovre
A British citizen with a Pakistani background is wanted as the organiser and 37 others – 11 of whom are still at large – are currently being investigated, as is the Italian shell company SF Energy Trading that was used to defraud the billions.

SF Energy Trading used the Danish CO2 quota registry to gain access to quotas, which were then traded among German, Dutch, British and other Italian companies. One of the quota dealers who traded with SF Energy Trading was registered to a fake address in Hvidovre.

READ MORE: Government drags feet over proposal to revive carbon trading market

Quotas oft linked to terrorism
Marius-Christian Frunza, a French professor and expert in VAT-fraud, said the link between terrorism and climate quotas was well documented.

“The goal was not just to swindle the VAT from the state, but also use the CO2 to transfer capital to extremist and terrorist activities,” Frunza told DR Nyheder.

The Danish quota registry has been open for CO2 trade since 2008, and in 2012 a tightening of registration procedure was implemented. The Italian quota scandal took place between 2009 and 2010.

TOP STORIES

  • Chinese wind turbine companies sign pact to end race-to-the-bottom price war

    Chinese wind turbine companies sign pact to end race-to-the-bottom price war

    China’s 12 leading wind turbine makers have signed a pact to end a domestic price war that has seen turbines sold at below cost price in a race to corner the market and which has compromised quality and earnings in the sector.

  • Watch Novo Nordisk’s billion-kroner musical TV ad for Wegovy

    Watch Novo Nordisk’s billion-kroner musical TV ad for Wegovy

    Novo Nordisk’s TV commercial for the slimming drug Wegovy has been shown roughly 32,000 times and reached 8.8 billion US viewers since June.

  • Retention is the new attraction

    Retention is the new attraction

    Many people every year choose to move to Denmark and Denmark in turn spends a lot of money to attract and retain this international talent. Are they staying though? If they leave, do they go home or elsewhere? Looking at raw figures, we can see that Denmark is gradually becoming more international but not everyone is staying. 

  • Defence Minister: Great international interest in Danish military technology

    Defence Minister: Great international interest in Danish military technology

    Denmark’s Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen attended the Association of the Unites States Army’s annual expo in Washington DC from 14 to 16 October, together with some 20 Danish leading defence companies, where he says Danish drone technology attracted significant attention.

  • Doctors request opioids in smaller packs as over-prescription wakes abuse concerns

    Doctors request opioids in smaller packs as over-prescription wakes abuse concerns

    Doctors, pharmacies and politicians have voiced concern that the pharmaceutical industry’s inability to supply opioid prescriptions in smaller packets, and the resulting over-prescription of addictive morphine pills, could spur levels of opioid abuse in Denmark.

  • Housing in Copenhagen – it runs in the family

    Housing in Copenhagen – it runs in the family

    Residents of cooperative housing associations in Copenhagen and in Frederiksberg distribute vacant housing to their own family members to a large extent. More than one in six residents have either parents, siblings, adult children or other close family living in the same cooperative housing association.

Connect club

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.

Sign up here

Career

  • Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    On Friday 27 and Saturday 28 of September, The Copenhagen Post will be at International Citizen Days in Øksnehallen on Vesterbro, Copenhagen. Admission is free and thousands of internationals are expected to attend

  • Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Chisom Udeze, the founder of Diversify – a global organization that works at the intersection of inclusion, democracy, freedom, climate sustainability, justice, and belonging – shares how struggling to find a community in Norway motivated her to build a Nordic-wide professional network. We also hear from Dr. Poornima Luthra, Associate Professor at CBS, about how to address bias in the workplace.

  • Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality, home to Denmark’s largest infrastructure project – the Fehmarnbelt tunnel connection to Germany – has launched a new jobseeker support package for the accompanying partners of international employees in the area. The job-to-partner package offers free tailored sessions on finding a job and starting a personal business.

Want to advertise your job with CPH Post?

Contact us

Jobs