MILAN (Reuters) -Italian police carried out searches and seizures at two Amazon sites in Italy on Monday as part of an investigation into alleged smuggling of Chinese goods, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Dozens of officers from the Guardia di Finanza tax police and the customs agency seized around 5,000 products at a logistics hub operated by the e-commerce giant in Cividate al Piano, in the northern province of Bergamo, the sources said.
At the same time, other tax police officers conducted IT-related seizures at Amazon’s Italian headquarters in Milan.
Milan prosecutors allege that Amazon, through its logistics centres and using its own and third-party transport, moves and sells in both Italy and EU markets goods arriving from China without paying either import sales taxes or tariffs.
Amazon in Italy was not immediately available for comment.
(Reporting by Emilio Parodi; Editing by Crispian Balmer)
