ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Alessandro Pistochini, Luca Moglia, Giovanni Bellissimo and Giulia Barattini, Pistochini Avvocati Studio Legale
for their own or another’s benefit. The penalty is imprisonment of up to two years. Several aggravat - ing circumstances are provided, including when the disclosure of trade secrets is carried out using IT tools. 3.10 Financial/Trade/Customs Sanctions Customs sanctions are governed by Legislative Decree 141/2024, which criminalises smuggling and fraudu - lent declarations, such as failure to lodge paperwork or misstatements on quality, quantity, origin or value. The basic penalty is a fine equal to 100%–200% of the duties evaded, with imprisonment only in aggravated cases: three to five years if the offender is armed, acts in a group, links the conduct to other felonies, joins a contraband association, or where a duty component exceeds EUR100,000; up to three years if it exceeds EUR50,000. Less serious infringements are dealt with administratively through fines and confiscation. Alongside the customs regime, trade sanctions apply to embargoed goods and sensitive technologies. Law 185/1990 covers the export of military equipment, while Legislative Decree 221/2017 implements the EU framework on dual-use items. In both cases, the core offence is the export, supply or brokering of goods without the required authorisation or in breach of the relevant regulations. These are criminal offences, attracting imprisonment, heavy fines often linked to the value of the goods, and confiscation. Finally, financial sanctions – namely, asset freezes and prohibitions on making funds or economic resources available to designated persons – are enforced on an administrative footing under Legislative Decree 109/2007. Breaches mainly result in monetary fines and administrative confiscation, rather than criminal prosecution. 3.11 Concealment The crime of concealment ( “ricettazione” under Arti - cle 648 ICC) occurs when an individual purchases, receives, conceals, or otherwise facilitates the use of money, goods, or other benefits derived from any crime, with knowledge of their illicit origin. The predi - cate offence can be any crime capable of producing unlawful proceeds, such as theft, fraud, corruption or any other white-collar crime. Crucially, concealment
applies only to third parties: the perpetrator of the predicate offence cannot be convicted of conceal - ment of the same proceeds. Sanctions include impris - onment ranging from two to eight years and a fine of EUR516 to EUR10,329. More sophisticated conduct aimed at disguising or reinvesting illicit assets may fall under the related offences of money laundering or self-laundering under Article 648-bis and Article 640- ter 1 (see 3.13 Money Laundering ). 3.12 Aiding and Abetting Anyone who contributes to the commission of a cor - porate offence can be held liable through the general rule on participation in crime set out in Article 110 of the ICC ( concorso di persone nel reato ). The con - tribution may take the form of material co-operation (direct involvement in the act) or moral participation, such as instigation, encouragement or agreement that strengthens the decision of others to commit the • a contribution by another person that is causally relevant to its realisation, either by action or omis - sion; and • knowledge and intent to participate in the unlawful plan. The rule stipulates that all participants are subject to the same penalty as the principal offender, unless their role is minor, in which case the court may reduce the sentence (Article 114). 3.13 Money Laundering The main offences related to money laundering are as follows. • Money Laundering (Article 648-bis ICC): This offence punishes the conduct of anyone who, with - out having participated in the commission of the predicate offence, substitutes or transfers money, assets, or other benefits derived from a crime, or carries out other transactions in a way that hinders the identification of their illicit origin. If the laun - dered property derives from a felony, the penalty is imprisonment from four to twelve years and a fine of EUR5,000 to EUR25,000. offence. The offence requires: • the commission of a crime;
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