Crypto Controversy: Triestina Calcio's Financial Foul Play

Italian authorities have investigated third-tier football club Triestina Calcio over money laundering suspicions, linked to its ownership by the U.S. cryptocurrency company House of Doge. The probe focuses on public funding and substantial international bank transfers, amid the club's troubling financial deficits.

Italian tax police have initiated a search at the headquarters of the third-tier football club Triestina Calcio, now owned by House of Doge, a U.S. cryptocurrency company, as part of a money laundering investigation.

The inquiry, spearheaded by Trieste prosecutors, scrutinizes the period from 2022 to 2025, during which Triestina Calcio experienced different ownerships, including Atlas Consulting and LBK Triestina Holdings.

Investigators are particularly interested in the club's fiscal management, given its receipt of 10 million euros in public funding and 40 million euros via North American banks, against existing debts of 60 million euros.

(With inputs from agencies.)