Criminal Police-Eurispes. Construction: attempts of organised crime to infiltrate the sector
Anti-mafia disqualifications: a warning light on infiltration in the construction sector
Within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Central Directorate of the Criminal Police of the Department of Public Security and Eurispes – Institute for Political, Economic and Social Studies, an analysis has been carried out to outline the presence of illegality within the construction sector.
To this end, the Central Inteforze Group of the Criminal Analysis Service has monitored the trend of the Anti-mafia disqualifications issued at the national level in the construction sector over the period 2016-2021, the territorial incidence, the involvement of the main Mafia organisations and the changes in companies (processed using Infocamere data) that have occurred, as an increase in these disqualifications could be a sign of possible criminal interference, aimed precisely at avoiding anti-mafia controls.
Looking at the historical data for the period 2016-2021, for all the Ateco (VAT) codes of the macro construction sector, Southern Italy has the highest number of anti-mafia disqualifications. This is particularly true with regard to interdictions concerning the building construction with a particular result being exponentially higher than the other geographical areas in 2018 (111) and 2020 (103). In Central Italy, on the other hand, the trend shows little variation, with a peak in 2017 (19) and a constant decline in the following years until the figure for 2021 (6).
However, the data collected in the individual macro-sectors within the construction sector show a significant increase in the number of anti-mafia disqualifications in the building construction, which rose from 70 in 2016 to 158 in 2020, reaching 137 in September 2021. Building construction activities are also the sector most affected by anti-mafia notices. “Specialised construction” works also show an increase in interdictions, albeit more erratically over time: there were 19 in 2016, there are 29 in 2021. The same applies to the civil engineering sector, where the number of interdictions rose from 40 six years ago to 58 in 2021.
For all periods and for the entire macro sector of construction, the ‘Ndrangheta is the mafia group most involved in attempts to infiltrate the productive fabric of businesses. This phenomenon was particularly evident in 2020 and 2021 (66 interdictions in both years). This is followed by the Camorra, with a peak in the number of interdictions in 2018, the Cosa Nostra, with the highest figure in 2016, and the Sacra Corona Unita, with a peak in 2021.
It is also worth mentioning the trend of corporate changes in the construction sector, again in the period from 2016 to 2021. In the building construction sector, the positions turnover represented the most significant variation, remaining stable over the entire observation period. The remaining changes observed do not show any particular fluctuations, with the exception of the shareholdings turn-over for the year 2016 and the transfer of shares for the year 2017.
When comparing the prevention of criminal infiltration trend indirect value, represented by the number of disqualifications issued against the monitored companies, with the number of corporate restructuring over the same period of time, there is an overlap between the latter and the number of interdictions issued in 2018, particularly in the building construction and specialised construction sectors. The civil engineering sector, which is less affected by the phenomenon of variations and the number of disqualifications, does not undergo significant changes over the observation period and has its peak in the year 2019.
At a time when the construction sector is at its most vulnerable due to the economic flows linked to the funds made available by the Pnrr, it seems essential to continue monitoring the phenomenon of criminal infiltration in the sector, using the model developed as part of the scientific collaboration initiated by the Central Directorate of the Criminal Police and Eurispes. The commitment is not only to proceed through regular updates but also to develop the model with further data collection and cross-referencing of indicators that can provide a more accurate overview.
For a more detailed analysis of the findings, please refer to the full report.
