Police in Como, northern Italy, have arrested two people as part of an investigation into alleged identity fraud. Italian citizenship for Brazilians.
The suspects are an employee of the civil registration office of the City Council of Uggiate-Trevano, a municipality with 4,9 inhabitants in the province of Como, in Lombardy, Isabella Barelli, and the Brazilian Cinthia Roberta Gonçalves, owner of Incetti Cidadania Italiana Ltda, based in São José/SC, and residing in Ticino, an Italian-speaking canton in Switzerland, both placed under home detention. The names were released by Expand TV.
Four other people — all of them owners of properties where citizenship applicants registered supposedly fictitious residence — are also investigated, but were not subject to precautionary measures. The charges against the suspects are forgery in a public document and ideological falsehood.
According to the investigation, at least 171 Brazilians would have obtained the Italian citizenship by blood right (jus sanguinis) through the fictitious declaration of residence in Uggiate-Trevano.
The Brazilian intermediary, according to the police, charged 3,5 euros (R$21,4) to organize arrival in Italy, obtain residence certification and register with the civil registry, with the help of the municipal employee, all in a shorter time than usual.
The investigation was born after a complaint made by another employee of the Uggiate-Trevano City Council, who had been surprised by the large number of Brazilians arriving in the city, located on the border with Switzerland.
Over the past few years, the police and the Public Prosecutor's Office have dismantled several gangs that practiced corruption and fraud in the processes of recognizing Italian citizenship by jus sanguinis, especially involving Brazilians.
The most frequent problem is precisely the issue of residence. To obtain recognition in Italy, you must prove that you live in the country, which requires staying for a relatively uncertain period, but which can last around three months.
However, some intermediaries sell the idea that this stage can be completed quickly or without the need for the candidate's permanent presence on Italian soil, which is contrary to the law. (With information from ANSA and Espansione TV)
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