Genoese magistrates have
reportedly gone to Luxembourg as part of an investigation into
money laundering of part of 49 million euros taken in by the
right-wing party League, allegedly the result of major fraud
against the state.
Various newspapers reported the news on Thursday.
Prosecutors have in recent days been granted an international
rogatory and for two days they will be in Luxembourg to speak to
a major witness and acquire documents, according to the reports.
The investigation began after a statement from one of the
auditors claiming that part of the 49 million euros (about 10
million) had ended up in a foreign tax haven.
According to a reconstruction by investigators, the savings
bank Sparkasse had transferred 10 million euros into a trust
fund in Luxembourg.
Immediately after the elections on March 4, the Luxembourg
authorities had blocked the transfer of three million euros for
10 days from the country to Italy and informed their Italian
counterparts about the suspicion that the transaction was linked
to League accounts.
The Genoese judiciary had also been informed of the
operation, which already in January had opened an investigation
into money laundering after a statement by former auditor
Stefano Aldovisi.
Sparkasse said that the 10 million were bank funds and that
the transfer was linked to ordinary investment operations.
The financial police instead suspect that the money is linked
to the League.
Meanwhile, the Rome prosecutor's office has transferred deeds
to their Genoese counterparts on an inquiry into Luca Parnasi,
an entrepreneur arrested as part of an inquiry into the building
of a stadium in the capital.
Investigations have found that Parnasi funded the Più Voci
association, which is linked to the League.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
