Ex-premier Matteo Renzi is under
investigation for fake invoices on allegedly non-existent
transactions in relation to his compensation for a conference in
Abu Dhabi, the centrist Italia Viva (IV) party leader discloses
in his new book, Controcorrente (maverick, or against the tide).
Florentine prosecutors are working on the case, he says.
The revelation comes a day after a report that Rome prosecutors
are investigating Renzi for illegal party funding and issuing
fake invoices in relation to a documentary he made about his
native Florence.
Renzi has been placed under investigation on suspicion of
illegal party funding and issuing false invoices together with
VIP manager Lucio Presta, the daily Domani reported Tuesday.
It said Rome prosecutors placed Renzi, former leader of the
centre-left Democratic Party (PD) under investigation a few
weeks ago "in relation to a probe into economic ties between
Renzi and the TV agent".
The probe reportedly centres on bank transfers for the
documentary Florence According To Me, transactions which ended
up in an anti-money laundering report by the Bank of Italy's
financial fraud office UIF in 2019.
Renzi has been criticised for conferences in Middle Eastern Arab
states including one in Saudi Arabia where he praised Prince
Mohammed bin Salman, whom the CIA say ordered journalist Jamal
Kashoggi's murder and dismemberment in
the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018, as the
promoter of a "new Renaissance" in Saudi Arabia.
As well as boosting MBS as a reformer, Renzi said he envied
labour costs in Saudi Arabia, where many immigrant workers are
paid slave wages in appalling living and working conditions.
Renzi has promised to explain his remarks, while acknowledging
that the labour cost comment was "not one of my best".
The former centre-left Democratic Party (PD) leader, who sparked
a government crisis by pulling IV out of Giuseppe Conte's ruling
coalition leading to Mario Draghi's appointment at the head of a
national unity government, has been widely criticised for his
paid speech in Riyadh.
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