The Guardia di Finanza (GdF) in Rome has seized more than €25m in assets in an alleged Gratta e Vinci fraud. Five former employees of Italy’s scratchcard concessionaire are accused of using inside access to its systems to find four winning tickets, worth a combined €24m, before they went on sale.
The seizure is a precautionary measure (sequestro conservativo) meant to secure compensation for the loss allegedly caused to the state treasury, according to reports by Italian news site Open and Mediaset’s Tgcom24 on 23 October 2026. The concessionaire, which was not named, is described as having no part in the affair.
The alleged Gratta e Vinci fraud
Investigators allege the five used their own login credentials to manipulate the concessionaire’s servers and work out where winning tickets had been shipped. Two of the four tickets carried a €7m top prize each and the other two were worth €5m each, according to Tgcom24’s report on the seizure.
Relatives, friends and acquaintances of the five then bought the tickets at the retailers where they had been sent, Tgcom24 reported. Using confidential data in this way removed the random element of the game, Open wrote. Without it, the prizes might never have been claimed and the money would have stayed with the state.
What was seized
The assets frozen include 25 properties (flats, small villas, garages and cellars) in the provinces of Rome, Viterbo, Treviso, Taranto, Grosseto and Reggio Calabria, plus five cars and motorbikes and an unspecified amount of cash and financial holdings, according to Open.
The total is set to match the loss to the Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM), the Italian regulator that receives Gratta e Vinci revenue, including unclaimed prizes. A designated judge will decide in a closed hearing (camera di consiglio) whether to confirm, change or lift the seizure, before individual liability is settled in proceedings at the Corte dei conti, Italy’s public audit court.
Earlier steps in the case
The seizure follows action by the regional prosecutor’s office of the Corte dei conti for Lazio. In March 2026 it put the total damage at €25,067,224 and sent the five an invito a dedurre, a formal notice inviting them to respond before any claim is filed, Open reported on 25 March 2026.
That figure covers the prizes paid out, the reduction in public revenue and damage to the public administration’s image, Open wrote. The alleged events date back to 2020, according to the same report.
The audit checks were carried out by the GdF’s economic and financial police unit in Rome (Nucleo di Polizia Economico-Finanziaria), under deputy prosecutor general Eleonora Lener, within a separate criminal investigation for alleged fraud against the state. Liability is established only if the audit court rules against the five, and no ruling has been made.
The case comes as Italy reworks its gaming concessions, including a plan to extend retail gambling licences to 2029. Recent ADM decisions and market data are tracked in our Italy iGaming market profile.
Next steps
The designated Corte dei conti judge will rule on whether to uphold the seizure at a closed hearing; no date has been published. The criminal investigation into alleged fraud against the state continues separately.
Source: Guardia di Finanza
