The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) on Tuesday called on Cabinet Secretary Maria Elena Boschi to quit over reports that she asked UniCredit CEO Federico Ghizzoni to consider buying a troubled bank that subsequently went insolvent.
Boschi denied making any such request.
In excerpts of a book by Ferruccio De Bortoli released before publication, the former Corriere della Sera editor says that then-reform minister Boschi spoke to Ghizzoni about the possibility of buying Banca Etruria in 2015.
Boschi's father is a former vice president of the Tuscan bank, one of four lenders that went to the wall in 2015, leaving many savers with worthless bonds. "Boschi must get packing or we'll go everything to send her back home," read a post of the blog of M5S leader Beppe Grillo.
"And we will evaluate possible actions on the judicial front".
Boschi said she was the victim of mud-slinging.
"The Banca Etruria story is cyclically brought out to feed controversy," Boschi said on Facebook. "Let's be clear: I never asked Ghizzoni or anyone else to buy Banca Etruria. "I have met Ghizzoni, like I have met many personalities from the world of the economy and labour, but I never made a request of this nature". She added that she has tasked lawyers with the job of taking action to "protect my name and my honour".
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
