Apparently, a U.S. citizen of Soviet origin with good relations appeared to be a key player in the immense fraud in the Italian telecom, as stated in the court documents and published reports.

Aldo Mordzhini, the Rome judge issued a warrant for the arrest of Eugene Gurevich, who is believed to be born in the Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan, and, reportedly, has been obtaining a passport of the U.S. citizen since 1990. Decision on arrest was made for his alleged involvement in fraud through which an astounding amount of 2.7 billion dollars allegedly had been transferred from the units [...] Telecom Italia SpA and Fastweb SpA for the period between 2003 and 2006.

[ "Vedomosti", 25/02/2010, "Mafia and the VAT: as the prosecutor Giancarlo Kapalda told the news agency ANSA, Prosecutors in Rome are investigating one of the biggest frauds in national history. According to him, in 2003-2006 leaders of Internet providers Fastweb and Telecom Italia Sparkle funneled more than 2 billion euros through gray schemes and assistance of the Calabrian mafia (ndrangets). Prosecutors issued arrest warrants for 56 people and sent to the Italian Senate an application for deprivation of immunity of Senator Nicholas Di Girolamo, who was accused of having relations with the Mafia, violation of election laws, and money laundering.

The statement implies that Fastweb and Telecom Italia Sparkle provided telecommunication services to fictitious companies; on their accounts the funds had been deposited, and by the law on VAT those companies should not have been involved in the transaction. Fictitious companies for the services purchase have been set up in the UK, Switzerland, Panama, Luxembourg.

In the organization of "carousel fraud" with VAT Fastweb founder Silvio Rocks is suspected. According to prosecutors, Fastweb evaded payment of VAT on the amount of 40 million euros. Scalia whose fortune was estimated at $ 1.2 billion by Forbes founded his company in 1999, and in 2007 he sold his interest in Swisscom. According to the official statement of Fastweb, now he has no relation to the company. - Box K.ru]

The Italian partners of Gurevich allegedly used bogus receipts for telephony services in order to require fraudulently of the Italian authorities to pay more than 400 million dollars in a form of value added tax through the so-called "carousel fraud".

Reportedly, 33-year-old Gurevich (who lives in Long Island City, New York) helped to open a bank account in Vienna to launder money from the two companies which were allegedly involved in the perpetration of fraud - Planetarium Srl and Global Phone Network Srl.

In the summary exhibited on the Internet it is stated that "Gurevich is an American entrepreneur with more than a decade of experience in investment banking and management consulting." He used to be the President of Virage Consulting Ltd - the company on Management Consulting from the United States in 2001-2007, and director of the “Asia Universal Bank” (AUB) - a commercial bank located in the Kyrgyz Republic in 2006-2009. Other managerial roles included Senior Vice President of Investment Bank of Africa, executive director of the New York hedge fund of Gamma Square Partners, and director of GSN Tech LLC, described as an "offshore company for software development."

According to the Turin daily La Stampa, the Bank of Italy was brought to a state of anxiety due to the allegations of the Central Bank of Cyprus that two of the Gurevich’s companies - Wolstin Ltd and Crown Era Investments Ltd - were used for money laundering schemes through the carousel fraud, tobacco and drugs smuggling; committed, apparently, in Italy and the United Kingdom.

Perhaps, one of the most colorful persons out of the alleged partners of Gurevich, i.e. those 55 persons against whom Judge Mordzhini signed a warrant for the arrest two weeks ago, is Gennaro Mokbel - the son of an Egyptian officer and an Italian mother. Supposedly, Mokbel used contacts in the Calabrian mafia (known as ndrangeta) to elect his friend fraudulently to the Senate.

Mokbel with his alleged relations with right-wing extremists, including the two terrorists convicted for the bombings in 1980 at the Bologna railway station, and allegedly under the protection of corrupt officers of the financial police, has reportedly invested part of his illicit profits in African diamonds and in the art pieces of the leading contemporary Italian artists. His collection reportedly contains photos and memorabilia of wartime leader Benito Mussolini and Adolph Hitler.

Italian newspapers say the group has probably established friendly relations with the officers of the secret service, as well as with the police and political leaders. The British suspect Paul Anthony O'Connor "was often accompanied by a former agent of British MI6 (foreign intelligence)", said Panorama.

Being confident that none of his calls could have been intercepted, Mokbel openly chatted on the phone. In one of the angry calls to "his" Senator - Nicolas Dia Girolamo - he is believed to go outraged: "You may become the president of Italy, but for me you will always be a doorman, or to be more precise - my slave." The newly elected senator, as suggested, meekly replied: "Please forgive me."