Police in Italy have said that an Irish cattle trader was scammed of 115 cattle he was not paid for by fraudsters in the country.

According to police, the scammers commissioned the purchase of 115 cattle from the dealer by agreeing on a payment of €800,000.

When the dealer did not receive the payment, he contacted police in the province of Mantua, in the northern Italian region of Lombardy.

Police identified three people involved in the scam through the Irish dealer's information.

These three individuals were reported to judicial authorities for the crime of aggravated fraud, the police said.

The Irish man told the police that he had established commercial negotiations in October with a person who had presented himself as the owner of a farm in the province of Mantua who was interested in buying his livestock.

After an initial meeting between the parties, the delivery and payment methods were established, according to police.

The Irish dealer delivered the livestock to the scammers between October 15 and 18.

After this, the fraudsters asked to purchase further cattle, but the trader, having not yet received payment for the initial consignment, ceased negotiating with the buyers.

According to police, the scammers tried to "buy time" by saying that the payment had been made but was unsuccessful due to problems with the credit institution used to send the transfers. They were even able to produce receipts to that effect.

Subsequently, another accomplice, who presented himself as the director of the credit institution in question, tried to reassure the Irish man by claiming to have opened a bank guarantee to guarantee the payment.

Investigators ascertained that the receipts of the transfers presented by the fraudsters were false and that the alleged director of the credit institution was an accomplice of the fraudsters.

Police then carried out a check on the farm, verifying that the 115 cattle were still there.

Police requested and obtained a warrant to seize the animals, with that seizure then being carried out.