Sicilian energy entrepreneur
Vito Nicastri on Thursday was convicted of filing false tax
returns and fraud against the State by a Milan court and
sentenced to four years in prison.
Dubbed by Italian media as the "king of alternative energy"
over his vast holdings in wind farms and photovoltaic cell
companies, Nicastri is suspected by Sicilian investigators to
have ties with fugitive Sicilian Mafia boss Matteo Messina
Denaro.
He was first placed under investigation by magistrates in
Trapani in 2010 over his suspected connections with Messina
Denaro.
The Milan court also ordered that 10.8 million euros in
assets be confiscated, including 5.6 million directly linked to
Nicastri.
The Trapani native was standing trial in Milan over an
alleged fraud against the State worth 19 million euros carried
out in 2008 through the acquisition of stakes in Windco by
Luxembourg-based firm Lunix and the creation of a slush fund,
according to the prosecution.
Nicastri, Linux's owner and CEO, did not present annual
income tax reforms on his company "which was only formally
headquartered in Luxembourg but whose administration was
actually stably based in Italy", in Milan, State attorneys said.
The Milan court sentenced three other defendants to jail
terms of up to three years and acquitted four others in the
case.
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