Sampdoria said Monday that owner
Massimo Ferrero was stepping down as chairman after being
arrested by finance police in relation to a probe by prosecutors
in the southern city of Paola into alleged corporate and
bankruptcy felonies.
The Genoa-based Serie A club is not implicated in the case, it
said.
Ferrero a businessman and cinema producer, was arrested in Milan
and has been taken to San Vittore jail, according to sources.
Five other people probed in relation to the case have been put
under house arrest, the sources said.
These included Ferrero's daughter Vanessa and his grandson
Giorgio.
The case regards the bankruptcy several years ago of four
companies based in the Calabrian province of Cosenza in the
hotel, tourism and cinema sectors, the sources said.
Ferrero's lawyer Pina Tenga said she had requested that her
client be transferred to Rome so he could attend a search of his
home there and open a safe.
"They are treating him worse than (late Cosa Nostra boss) Totò
Riina," Tenga said.
Sampdoria expressed "great astonishment" at Ferrero being taken
to jail for "bankruptcy issues regarding events of many years
ago".
It said the need for him to be taken to jail was "not clear".
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