Italy’s tax police said on Tuesday they had seized 27.4 million euros ($31.8 million) from two units of France’s CEVA Logistics, in a fresh chapter of investigations into alleged tax fraud and illegal labour practices that previously ensnared other major companies.
The move against the French multinational, known for its partnership with Ferrari’s F1 team, follows similar actions against other logistics and delivery firms in Italy, including FedEx, Amazon and DHL.
Milan prosecutors accuse CEVA units of issuing false invoices to mask the use of cheap labour, bypassing labour and tax laws to avoid tax and social security payments.
CEVA Logistics confirmed the seizure and said it was cooperating with the authorities, in whom it has “full confidence.” It added that the prosecutors’ action “does not in any way affect the normal continuation of operations”.
Prosecutors are probing three managers from CEVA Logistics Italia and two from CEVA Ground Logistics Italy, as well as the two CEVA units themselves, for alleged false tax declarations during 2020-2024, according to two judicial decrees seen by Reuters.
It is the second time in less than a decade that CEVA Logistics Italia has been targeted by Milan prosecutors over suspected labour law violations.
In May 2019, the unit was placed under court administration for a year over alleged workforce exploitation. That measure was revoked in February 2020 after a Milan judge found the company had taken sufficient remedial action, adopting a new business model focused on “transparency and legality.”
In one of the two latest seizure decrees seen by Reuters, prosecutors wrote that the 37 companies targeted so far by investigations of this kind have paid more than 1 billion euros into state coffers over the past five years and have hired and regularised more than 54,000 workers.
