Finance police said Friday UBI
Banca CEO Victor Massiah is accused of handing a company called
Sodali a consultancy contract worth 183,000 euros and putting it
on UBI's books even though it was not done in the lender's
interests - and therefore of all its shareholders - but solely
in order to curry votes in favor of management.
Massiah kept the contract secret from Bank of Italy and
Consob regulators, investigators said.
Prosecutors on November 17 announced they wrapped up an
investigation into 39 managers and executives at
Unione di Banche Italiane SpA, branded as UBI Banca.
In Italy, this is usually a prelude to indictment.
Massiah and supervisory board chairman Andrea Moltrasio are
among those probed.
Charges range from obstruction of regulators, undue
influence, fraud, conflict of interests, and various tax-related
offences.
The investigation kicked off in 2014 after a report by
Adusbef consumer group. UBI Banca is the the fifth-largest
lender in Italy by number of branches, and is headquartered in
the northern city of Bergamo.
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