Beppe Grillo, a stand-up comic and
co-founder of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), is
under investigation for influence peddling regarding several
advertising contracts taken out by the Moby shipping company
with his blog, sources said Tuesday.
The owner of Moby, which is under investigation for bankruptcy,
Vincenzo Onorato, allegedly paid Grillo's website company for
advertising contracts between 2018 and 2019, sources said.
Milan finance police searched the offices of Beppe Grillo SrL in
the probe into suspected influence peddling by Grillo and
Onorato.
Moby Lines (Moby Lines S.p.A.) is an Italian shipping company
that operates ferries and cruiseferries between the Italian or
French mainland and the islands of Elba, Sardinia and Corsica.
Grillo, 73, was one of Italy's top comics when he became
involved in politics in 2009 as the co-founder (together with
the late Gianroberto Casaleggio) of the M5S, which became
Italy's top party at the 2018 general election.
Grillo is seen as a prime example of the populist surge which
arose in Europe during the 2010s.
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