Rape drug businessman probed for bankruptcy

(ANSA) - MILAN, AUG 23 - A 50-year-old pharmaceuticals manager accused of drugging and raping a 21-year-old female student in his luxury Milan flat last May has now been placed under investigation for suspected fraudulent bankruptcy, sources said Monday.
    Antonio Di Fazio has been in prison custody since May Five young women who say they were drugged and raped by Di Fazio have come forward and spoken to prosecutors.
    One of the girls has said she was held captive for four weeks, and another for several days, while a third said she managed to escape his clutches.
    Sources said they had told "horror stories" to the prosecutors.
    Police said they were investigating a suspected network of accomplices.
    Prosecutors say they have found images of other suspected victims of 50-year-old Di Fazio, who was arrested on May 24 on suspicion of drugging, raping and photographing a 21-year-old student who went to his office for a job interview.
    Police said they had found more than 50 photos on his phone but there were even more on his other devices, meaning that the victims are presumably much more numerous than the five initially thought.
    The images, like that of the student and another four young women, were found on Di Fazio's phone, PC and tablet.
    Police said he took them as "trophies" of his sexual violence.
    They said he slipped massive doses of tranquilizers into the women's drinks and then stripped them and raped them, before photographing them naked.
    Di Fazio has declined to answer prosecutors' questions. His lawyer, Rocco Romellano, told reporters: "He's very confused and worn out, he isn't well, I've always known him to be a cordial, honest and calm person, but I can't know if he had a double life, nothing like that has come out".
    Di Fazio was declared bankrupt on Friday, with debts of over half a million euros.
    He is now being probed for the fraudulent bankruptcy of his former company, Industria Farmaceutica Italiana, judicial sources said Monday. (ANSA).