The veteran leader of a
rightwing secessionist German-speaking party in Alto Adige
(South Tyrol) was sentenced to two years in jail Friday for
buying sex toys with provincial funds.
Pius Leitner, leader of the Freiheitlichen party, denied
wrongdoing.
Finance police already probing the accounts of all
political parties on the council discovered a receipt for 64.92
euros for the purchase of a vibrator and two other sex gadgets
presented by the Freiheitlichen caucus.
At the time of the discovery, Leitner said: "We need to look
into the matter, if it's true, it is not right".
Freiheitlichen represents the German-speaking population in
the northern province otherwise known as South Tyrol.
Prosecutors began inspecting the accounts of the provincial
party caucuses in January 2014 after a member of the council
reported an alleged abuse.
The probe was one of a series of investigations involving
alleged misuse of public funds by provincial and regional
administrations across Italy.
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