Fugitive Italian businessman Giulio Lolli who is accused of a major yacht sale scam and who fled to Libya in 2010 is reported to have been arrested in Tripoli by the Rad’a Special Deterrence forces of Abdul Raouf Kara.
Lolli, from Bologna, is wanted by the Italian police in relation to the Rimini Yacht scam in which he is alleged to have sold the same yachts to several buyers. It is claimed also that he defrauded the tax authorities of several millions.
He apparently used one of the yachts to flee to Libya the year before the revolution.
There he was arrested by officials of the Qaddafi regime who, however, refused to extradite him back to Italy. He was then freed during the revolution and joined it, becoming an officer in the Special Maritime Security Forces based in Tripoli.
Since then he has supposedly been involved in preventing human trafficking. Married to a Libyan woman earlier this year, he is known in Tripoli as Captain Karim.
It appears that Rad’a has arrested him on an international arrest warrant issued by the Rimini public prosecutor. This would indicate that the Libyan authorities in Tripoli are now prepared to extradite him.
The arrest occurred last Tuesday but has only just been disclosed.
Meanwhile, the Italian authorities have announced that they have seized synthetic opiates with a street value of more than €50 million that the so-called Islamic State was planning to sell to finance its activities in Libya, Syria and Iraq.
The 24 million Tramadol pills were seized in the port of Gioia Tauro in Reggio Calabria.
Sources added that Giulio Lolli has been on the run for 7 years and has since been living in Libya.
“The Libyan Attorney General’s Office did not inform the Italian embassy of the reasons behind the arrest yet.” They added.
The sources also indicated that there had been an Interpol arrest warrant on Mr. Lolli issued by Rimini Attorney General’s Office for extortion, embezzlement and fraud, adding that the investigation is being done in absentia and will be resumed next January.
Meanwhile, the Italian journalist Lorenzo Cremonesi, told a Libyan local TV Channel on Saturday that Mr. Lolli had been involved in works with many “Libyan militias,” singling out his involvement in undermining the flows of immigrants alongside what he described as the “Libyan Coast Guard.”
“Lolli is presenting himself as a hero to the Italian and Libyan governments, but he is not, he is just a pitiful criminal who is wanted by the Italian justice.” Cremonesi told the channel.
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