Civil servants get jail for absenteeism

(ANSA) - Bologna, January 11 - Nine civil service employees were sentenced to 14 months in prison for defrauding the State, sources said Monday.
    The nine employees of a Bologna industry ministry office were found to have engaged in chronic absenteeism, with colleagues punching each other in then going shopping or to the gym.
    They were turned in by a fellow colleague.
    They will also have to compensate the ministry, which was a civil plaintiff in the criminal proceedings against them.