Milan prosecutors on Wednesday
asked that former Northern League leader Umberto Bossi and his
two sons be sent to trial along with six others on charges
related to allegations of embezzlement and fraud against the
State involving 40 million euros.
Prosecutors also asked that courts dismiss the case of
Senator Rosi Mauro, a Northern League member and confidant of
Bossi.
The scandal forced Bossi, founder of the regionalist
League, to quit.
Prosecutors finished their investigation in late 2013 into
Bossi and his sons Riccardo and Renzo, who were all accused of
fraud and embezzlement in the management of 40 million euros in
public funds earmarked for the Northern League's political
operations.
Prosecutors said that 10 people, including Bossi and his
sons, were included in their probe that began in 2012 into the
misuse of party funds, a crime that allegedly began several
years earlier.
Bossi, whose political career was based on railing against
central government, graft and mismanagement, stepped down as
Northern League secretary in April 2012 during the investigation
that included former party treasurer Francesco Belsito.
Bossi, who in the 1980s spearheaded the movement that
eventually became the Northern League, was allegedly involved
with Belsito in irregularities in documentation to obtain
reimbursements for electoral spending.
Bossi's sons Renzo and Riccardo were accused of allegedly
using party funds for personal use.
A number of high-profile League members resigned from their
positions after it emerged that prosecutors in Milan, Naples and
Reggio Calabria had launched probes into the party's financing.
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