Italy's tax hunters target super-rich and their yachts off the Sardinian coast

[WestVirginiaRebel]

UK Guardian:

There used to be a time when Italy's super-rich gravitated to the smartest enclaves of Sardinia for a summer of relaxation and luxury. Not any more. In an increasingly austerity-conscious country, the yacht-owning classes are coming under increasing and unwelcome scrutiny, some of which would not look out of place in a scene from the film Apocalypse Now.

"We first spotted the targets with the helicopter's radar and closed in to identify about 50 boats off the two islands," said Italian coastguard captain Pietro Mele, describing a recent raid on yachts suspected of straying too close to the coast. Swooping in, the helicopter crew barked orders to the plush pleasure craft through a loudspeaker, telling them to move on from the protected Sardinian islands of Soffi and Mortorio, where anchoring is strictly forbidden.

It was hardly an act of war, but the tough measures have been enough to spark a furious reaction from royalty, actors and entrepreneurs who keep their yachts on the nearby Costa Smeralda and are now threatening to move on to Corsica or France's Côte d'Azur.

"These helicopter raids are a huge problem and many yachts won't be back to Sardinia any time soon," said Roberto Azzi, who runs a rental agency called Emerald Yachts.

The helicopter raids top a terrible summer for Italy's upmarket sailors, who have suffered regular visits from tax inspectors instituting prime minister Mario Monti's crackdown on tax avoidance. "We are 30% down this season," complained Azzi.

The two islands have long been favourite spots for boats heading out from the swish port of Porto Rotondo, which is popular with rich Italians, Russian magnates and Arab sheikhs. Among those up in arms about being turfed out were German and Italian princes, as well as former Formu la 1 racing driver Alessandro Nannini. "Yachtsmen pass the word around and get out before the checks start," he told Corriere della Sera. "But that's got to stop. Something has to change, or I am not going back."

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Finding a convenient scapegoat for Italy's problems.