(ANSA) - Genoa - Prosecutors on Wednesday said they had broken up an organization that fooled police, media and international authorities into believing they were a government-backed secret services agency.
The group's two leaders, Gaetano Saya and Riccardo Sindaca, have been arrested and 24 others have been placed under investigation, around half of whom real police officers, said prosecutors.
The Department of Strategic Antiterrorism Studies (DSSA) was set up by two right-wing extremists after the March 11 bomb attacks on Madrid last year, partly inspired by a genuine desire to fight Islamic terrorism.But the group's main scope appeared to be financial.
It made contact with US and Israeli intelligence agencies and was seeking financing from NATO and the European Union.
"Instead of guaranteeing more security and protection, this structure created confusion and uncertainty, thereby threatening genuine security operations," said Genoa Chief Prosecutor Francesco Lalla.
Despite its efforts, he said, DSSA members had achieved nothing more than managing to skip some airport security checks, use special parking spots and police lanes, and get some VAT discounts on cars.
Rather than keeping a low profile, the DSSA sought publicity to bolster its reputation, sending reports of airport security assessments it had carried out to police stations and dailies, one of which carried two articles on its work.
This helped it lure recruits from genuine forces, including the state police, the Carabinieri, the national prison guard service and the finance police. As well as adding an additional veneer of authority to the group, these helped the DSSA obtain confidential government information, said prosecutors.
All of those under investigation shared the neo-fascist ideals of the DSSA leaders but prosecutors believe that most thought they were working for a genuine, covert government operation.
DSSA members had their own police ID, badges and special car tags, while Sindaca and Saya, who have been placed under house arrest, also had cars with sirens.
Investigators stumbled upon the group about a year ago during a probe into the death of Fabrizio Quattrochi, one of four private Italian security guards kidnapped in Iraq in April 2004. Quattrocchi was shot a few days later.
