Forty-five years ago today, on November 19, 1980 (October 12, 1980 lunar calendar), Italy seized a major oil smuggling case. On November 19, 1980, Italy uncovered the largest oil smuggling case in the history of the republic, causing a sensation across the country. The case involved a large number of people, including some important political figures. According to preliminary estimates from the press, the stolen money amounted to 2 trillion lira, or about 2.20 billion US dollars. According to reports, since 1974, some oil merchants in northern Italy have been bribing senior military and political officials for a long time to carry out smuggling activities. These oil merchants send a special person to transport boxes of banknotes worth up to 200 million lira to Rome every month for bribery. After a long period of operation, these businesspeople have formed a large-scale smuggling network in half of Italy, from garage staff, fuel truck drivers, tax bureau officials, to the financial police, senior generals, and political dignitaries. The oil traders, under the cover of some financial police and relevant government officials, sold gasoline and motor diesel that should have paid high taxes as heating diesel with only a small tax, or converted tax-free processed transit gasoline into domestic sales. A large number of tax evasion and tax evasion have made a fortune. Some ordinary oil traders have become billionaires in just a few years through these smuggling activities. Not long ago, this smuggling network began to show its weaknesses. As early as 1976, a lieutenant colonel of the financial police named Vitali had investigated the case and wrote a report to his superiors. However, the police officer's report fell into the hands of his bribed superiors, and not only did the report go to sea, but he himself was transferred. As time went by, the smuggling network became more and more exposed. On October 24, 1980, the important figure in the case, the former commander of the financial police, Giudici, was arrested, and the oil scandal that caused a sensation in the country was uncovered in Italian newspapers. By the end of October, the development of the case gradually involved politicians. On October 29, a senator from the "social movement" accused the current industry minister, Antonio Bizaria, of being involved in the oil smuggling case. Bizaria immediately retorted, saying that there was no such thing. Lawmakers asked Finance Minister Franco Reverlio to come to Parliament to clarify the truth. In this context, Reverlio admitted that in March 1980 he had forwarded a whistleblower report to the chairperson of the Senate Finance Committee, the Tiberian Seniana. Seniana withheld the whistleblower for seven months. The matter caused a lot of discussion among lawmakers. Communist lawmakers demanded that Seniana resign, and Socialist lawmakers asked him to suspend his post for reflection. Now, the judicial authorities in Rome, Milan, Turin and other places are further investigating the case, and have found thousands of cheques used by oil companies to pay bribes. Therefore, the judicial department has prosecuted 200 people in the case, and more than 70 people have been arrested by the end of October. Some of them fled abroad for fear of crime. It is worth noting that the important figures involved in the oil scandal include Fredo, a close associate of former Italian Prime Minister Moro and the director of the Secretariat. Some newspapers believe that this oil scandal is not only a "financial case", but also a political background. At present, the case of the oil scandal is still developing. It is difficult to predict what kind of outcome it will lead to.