Fraudulent Transfer of Values (Art. 512-bis)

Fraudulent Transfer of Values (Art. 512-bis)

Fraudulent transfer of values arises when a person fictitiously attributes to others the ownership or availability of money, goods or other proceeds for the purpose of evading legal provisions, in particular those concerning patrimonial prevention measures, or facilitating the commission of crimes such as money laundering or reinvestment.

In the context of corporate criminal law, the offence becomes relevant when corporate or patrimonial operations are used to shield the real ownership of assets or to remove resources from possible judicial authority interventions.

Investigation Structure

Criminal investigation requires verification of the fictitious nature of the registration and the real availability of the asset by the subject who maintains substantive control. It is also necessary to ascertain the evasive purpose of the conduct, i.e. the will to remove the asset from the application of patrimonial measures or to facilitate the commission of further crimes.

Defence Method

The defence is based on the reconstruction of the disputed patrimonial operations and the verification of the real ownership and availability of the assets. In corporate criminal law, the analysis of the corporate structure and economic operations carried out takes on particular importance, in order to distinguish between legitimate patrimonial management operations and conduct actually aimed at shielding asset ownership.