Police on Tuesday searched the
offices of ENI former legal chief and current manager Massimo
Mantovani in a probe into an allegedly fake probe aimed at
foiling kickbacks probes involving the fuels giant and Nigeria
and Algeria.
Mantovani is under investigation for a conspiracy to commit a
number of crimes, judicial sources said.
ENI stressed that it was not itself under investigation and
urged the judiciary to clear up the matter.
It issued a statement saying "we trust in the correctness of
our managements's actions".
Earlier Tuesday, in a related case, a magistrate was among 15
people arrested in a probe into two alleged criminal
associations devoted to tax fraud, crimes against the public
administration and corruption in judicial processes.
Former Siracusa prosecutor Giancarlo Longo is accused of
being a "public official who sold off his role".
Lawyer Piero Amara and businessmen Fabrizio Centofanti and
Enzo Bigotti are also implicated in the case.
Riccardo Virgilio, a retired official of top administrative
court the Council of State, is under investigation too, the
sources said.
Among other things, Longo is suspected of concocting a false
probe into an alleged plan to destabilise fuels group ENI along
with Amara, who was one of the petrochemicals giant's lawyers.
The aim of the fake probe was to derail an investigation into
alleged Nigerian and Algerian kickbacks allegedly involving ENI
CEO Claudio Descalzi, judicial sources said.
Mantovani is accused of aiding and abetting Amara, judicial
sources said.
photo: Descalzi
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