The moves were ordered by a prosecutor based in Prato near Florence, home to one of Europe's largest Chinese communities.
News Desk
Italian police on Wednesday launched a crackdown on illegal immigration from China, just hours before President Xi Jinping arrived on a flying visit that Rome hopes will bolster ties.
In an operation code-named "White Collars", the GDF financial police said they had ordered 15 arrests and 111 raids on premises across five regions and placed another 83 people under formal investigation.
Some 400 officers were deployed as part of an investigation into a racket involving the forging of payslips and other documents to help secure residency permits, the GDF said in a statement.
It added that the investigation was focused on a number of Italian and Chinese professionals and businessmen, most of them based in Prato.
Xi touched down on Wednesday on the Italian island of Sardinia for an overnight stop en route for a three-country tour of Latin America.
The Chinese President was due to visit the ruins of the ancient town of Nora, one of the island's most important archaeological sites, before being entertained by a Sardinian folk band.
AFP
