ROME, July 13 (Reuters) – Reports of suspicious bank transactions in Italy jumped 10 percent to a record high last year as the pervasive problems of organized crime, corruption and tax evasion were exacerbated by a three-year economic slump, the central bank said on Monday.

The financial downturn had given cash-rich mafia groups the opportunity to tighten their grip on the economy as, with banks reducing lending, the criminal networks boosted their investments in the real economy, investigators have said.
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