Former Bank of Italy director and
current chairman of State broadcaster RAI, Anna Maria Tarantola,
and former Bank of Italy director general and ex-economy
minister Fabrizio Saccomanni are among 62 people implicated in a
probe into allegd usury at some of the country's biggest banks.
Former and current top managers at BNL, Unicredit, Monte
dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) and Banca popolare di Bari (BpB) have
all been investigated in relation to the alleged application of
usurious interest rates on certain loans, news of which emerged
Tuesday.
They include BNL Chairman Luigi Abete, Unicredit former CEO
Alessandro Profumo - currently chairman at struggling MPS - and
MPS former chairman Giuseppe Mussari and his deputy Francesco
Gaetano Caltagirone.
Prosecutors say the four banks involved in the probe
allegedly applied the usurious rates from 2005 to 2012 with the
"moral participation" of the then directors of Italy's central
bank and of Giuseppe Maresca, a director at the ecomony
ministry.
The companies affected by the allegedly usurious rates are
located in the province of Bari in Italy's southern Puglia
region.
Prosecutors say overall profits from the alleged usury run
to the tune of 95,000 euros.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
