(ANSA) - Rome, November 22 - Italy's recent economic crisis has boosted usury with loansharks' business up to 24 billion euros from 20 billion in 2011, a new report said Wednesday. Some 200,000 businesspeople and professionals are victims of loansharks, said the survey from retail group Confesercenti and SOS Impresa. The average annual per capita debt incurred is now 125,000 euros, up from 90,000, the report said.

The number of complaints to the police about usury or loansharking fell from 1,4036 in 1996 to 408 in 2016, the report said. The "district loan shark" had virtually disappeared and usury was now in the hands of "big criminal organisations, the report said.

Victims of usury got over six million euros in aid from a government solidarity fund in 2017, antiracket and anti-usury commissioner Domenico Cuttaia said at the presentation of the report. He said that 69 mortgages had been granted and that 85% of the sums loaned did not come back.

