UPDATE: Police Arrest Former Finmeccanica Adviser -Reports
July 08 2010 - 3:21PM
Dow Jones News
Italian police have arrested a former adviser to defense and
aerospace company Finmeccanica SpA (FNC.MI) as part of an
investigation into money laundering, two local news agencies
reported Thursday.
The investigation is an offshoot of another probe into tax fraud
and money laundering involving telecommunications operators Fastweb
SpA (FWB.MI) and Telecom Italia SpA's (TI, TIT.MI) unit
Sparkle.
News reports emerged in May that the public prosecutor's office
was looking into the affairs of the former adviser, with
Finmeccanica denying any knowledge of the case.
The company requested a probe into possible market manipulation
because the news had hurt its share price.
On Thursday, police arrested the former adviser to the company
following an order from the public prosecutor's office in Rome, the
ANSA and AGI news agencies said, citing judicial sources.
The office is investigating the transfer of some EUR8 million
through various offshore accounts, the agencies said.
The money was to be used by the former adviser and other
suspects to buy a stake in Digint, a security systems company
partly owned by Finmeccanica, they said.
The idea was to increase the value of the company with new
contracts and resell it to Finmeccanica at a higher price, they
added.
Finmeccanica declined to comment, while the public prosecutor's
office in Rome was not available for comment.
In the other probe, prosecutors are looking into the purchase
and sale of EUR2 billion in services to phony companies backed by
the 'Ndrangheta mob.
Prosecutors allege executives at Fastweb and Sparkle knew about
the purchases, conducted between 2003 and 2006.
Both operators deny any wrongdoing and describe themselves as
victims--rather than perpetrators--of the fraud.
Fastweb is a unit of Swisscom AG (SCMWY, SCMN.VX).
-By Gilles Castonguay, Dow Jones Newswires; +39 02 5821 9908;
gilles.castonguay@dowjones.com
(Giada Zampano in Rome contributed to this article.)
Swisscom (PK) (USOTC:SCMWY)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Swisscom (PK) (USOTC:SCMWY)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024
