Agnelli inheritance, indictment requested for John Elkann. His lawyers: "Extraneous to offences"

The request for John Elkann's indictment represents 'only an absolutely expected procedural step to allow the recomposition of a proceeding that had a unitary genesis'. This is what his lawyers explain, reiterating that their interest is 'to defend on the merits a person who is completely extraneous to the contested facts'.

These words come after the Turin Public Prosecutor's Office requested a (second) committal for trial of Elkann for allegedly defrauding the State and for tax fraud in the investigation into the inheritance of Marella Caracciolo, widow of lawyer Gianni Agnelli. He will now return to court on 22 June.

The investigation was initially based on two intertwined but separate proceedings (which will now be merged). In one strand, in fact, last December, the gip Antonio Borretta had ordered the Turin prosecutors - deputy Marco Gianoglio together with colleagues Mario Bendoni and Giulia Marchetti - to formulate the indictment against John for two of the six counts originally contested. Compulsory indictment as these are hypothetical offences - related to the 2018 and 2019 tax returns filed after Donna Marella's death - on which the prosecutors in turn had already asked for the case to be filed.

In the other proceeding, however, last February, the gip Giovanna Di Maria had rejected the 'messa alla prova' request for Elkann, sending the acts back to the prosecutors. But here too, the public prosecutor's office had given its opinion in favour of suspending the proceedings following the payment of approximately EUR 180 million to the Agenzia delle Entrate.

This morning - in brief - the preliminary hearing stemming from the forced indictment, which was immediately adjourned to June, took place, while this second request for committal for trial is linked to the strand of the (failed) trial. Now the two branches will be merged.