Merchant bank put into administration over 'mafia ties'

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 24 - A Milan court on Thursday ordered that a Milanese merchant bank, Banca Progetto, be put into judicial administration for allegedly having granted over 10 million euros in loans to companies linked to the Calabria-based 'Ndrangheta mafia.
    It said the bank funnelled "state aid to support the economy in the Covid emergency" and '"following Russia's aggression against Ukraine" to these firms.
    In the order, the Milan court said the bank's "modus operandi" was "opaque and questionable".
    It said the system created "the paradox that the money of state origin flowed into the coffers of the criminal syndicate".
    (ANSA).