Napolitano lashes out at tax cheats, speculators 'Detriment to the common good' says Italian president

(ANSA) - Rome, April 13 - Italian President Giorgio Napolitano lashed out at tax dodgers and speculators Friday."They follow antisocial logic to the detriment of the common good," he said at the States General meeting of police and public safety officers. "They are unworthy of being associated with the word 'Italy'". Tax cheats are widely blamed for contributing to Italy's huge public debt, the target of speculators who have pushed bond yields amid the euro crisis. The spread between Italian and German 10-year bonds was 379 and the yield was up to 5.52% when trading closed on Friday. With cash needed to balance the budget by 2013 and emerge from the debt crisis, Premier Mario Monti has launched a drive against tax cheats, who he says "are giving poisoned bread to their children".The campaign has featured a number of headline-grabbing operations among rich tourists in Cortina d'Ampezzo and the Ligurian Riviera, shoppers at exclusive stores in Rome and nightclub owners in Milan.Italy's internal revenue agency has said that it will ramp up the pressure further by introducing a new system to find evaders by cross-checking incomes and spending by the end of June.The tax agency last year estimated that around 120 billion euros' worth of undeclared business was done on the Italian underground economy each year.