Italian company

It seemed like an excellent deal for an Italian company struggling because of the coronavirus.

The Milan-based web design company in June applied for a government-backed loan worth about $290,000 to help get through the pandemic-related economic downturn. The funds were released, but there was a significant problem: The company had not lost revenue; it had never generated any business.

The firm was apparently a money-laundering front for the Greco clan, a branch of the powerful ‘Ndrangheta Mafia based in Calabria that controls most of the cocaine trafficking in Europe, according to authorities.