Bangladeshi citizens have reportedly paid up to €15,000 each in order to get visas that would permit them to enter and work in Italy.
The high amount of money that the applicants had to pay and the way these visas were granted raised concerns among authorities, thus leading to an investigation, Schengen.News reports.
According to local media reports, representatives of Bangladeshi community groups in Italy allegedly bribed officials at the Italian Embassy in Dhaka in order to issue these work visas in an irregular way.
Officials at the Italian Embassy in Dhaka were reportedly bribed by representatives of Bangladeshi community groups with expensive gifts, among them phones, Rolex watches, TVs, trips to Dubai, cars, and luxury safari trips.
In addition, local media reported that the group also tried but failed to offer a total of €2 million to Italian MP Andrea Di Giuseppe, a member of the Brothers of Italy party as well as the Foreign Affairs Commission.
Fraud Scheme Uncovered by Rome’s Prosecutor’s Office
According to a report from La Repubblica, this is the main part of a corruption scheme discovered by the Rome prosecutor’s office, which involves the Italian embassy in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka.
The system worked through bribes, as well as false job offers and fake documents, in order to help people who wanted to go to Italy.
The prosecutors have named four people as suspects, also taking into account two officials from the Italian embassy, who are accused of helping migrants to reach Italy in an irregular way in exchange for money.
The fee for those interested in entering Italy varied between €7,000 and €15,000 for each visa.
According to a report from La Repubblica, the contacts were allegedly arranged by a 60-year-old businessman from Bangladesh, Islam Nazrul, who owns a restaurant in Rome and is the leader of the Bangladeshi community association.
The group also used the money to attempt to bribe a Fratelli d’Italia deputy, who later reported on the issue. The case will now go to trial.
Our clients, also in light of the role they held at the top of the Bangladeshi community, acted in a spirit of solidarity towards some compatriots in difficulty .
The lawyers expressed their hopes that the in-depth analysis of the trial would clarify the entire story and also re-establish the truth of the facts.