Police op over probe on Meloni sisters' spied accounts

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 11 - A former employee of the Intesa Sanpaolo bank in the Puglia city of Bisceglie is being probed for allegedly illicitly accessing bank accounts of VIP clients and attempting to obtain confidential information "regarding State security" while spying on the accounts of 3,572 clients, including Premier Giorgia Meloni, investigative sources said Friday.
    On Thursday, police searched the man's home and seized his smartphone, tablet, hard disks and computers as part of the probe, which is coordinated by the State attorney's office in Bari, the sources said.
    The man was fired by the bank in August following "ordinary activities of supervision" that revealed the infraction, Intesa said Thursday, adding that it had reported the case to judicial authorities in a move that eventually led to the investigation, which was first reported by newspaper Domani.
    In a statement, Bari prosecutor Roberto Rossi said the investigation kicked off after a bank account holder of Intesa Sanpaolo reported the man to authorities.
    Investigators identified and documented that, from February 21 2022 until April 24 2024, the former employee had illegally accessed 6,637 times the accounts of 3,572 clients of 679 branches, the prosecutor said.
    In particular, the former employee had accessed the data of several high-profile politicians, entertainment and sports stars, according to investigative sources.
    These included, along with Premier Giorgia Meloni, her former partner Andrea Giambruno and sister Arianna, who heads the secretariat of her Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, the designated executive vice president of the new European Commission, European Affairs Minister Raffaele Fitto, and the governors of Puglia and Veneto, respectively Michele Emiliano and Luca Zaia, among others.
    (ANSA).