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.
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