Another investigation into Santanchè regarding bankruptcy, false accounting and fraud against the state has been closed

Still taking the case of Ki Holding, for example, another passage in the detailed indictment states that Santanchè and the others failed to disclose the ‘negative equity’ as early as the 2015 financial year and also ‘in subsequent financial statements’, thereby exacerbating the company’s financial distress ‘as a result of the continuation of its business activities’, through the use of “bond issues” and causing losses of almost 13 million euros.

Whilst Ki Group Holding, a company listed on Euronext Growth Milan, was in “financial distress”, “profits not actually realised” were allegedly distributed in the form of dividends, such as the more than €4.1 million in 2015 “despite a consolidated net loss” for the company of over 900,000 euros.

This is one of the charges – a lengthy list running to some twenty pages – set out in writing by the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office, headed by Marcello Viola, against former minister Daniela Santanchè and the other individuals under investigation in the recently concluded inquiry, on various counts, into the collapses of three companies within the Bioera-Ki Group bio-food group and Umbria srl. Ki Group srl is under investigation as a company and is also listed as an aggrieved party in relation to the offences, as are the insolvency administrators of the other three companies.

Invitalia is also a party to the proceedings in relation to the alleged aggravated fraud against the State.

In the chapter on the Bioera collapse, of which Santanchè was chair of the board of directors from 2012 to 2022 – a company that was also listed on the stock exchange and went into administration in December 2024 – the former minister and the other suspects are alleged to have distributed, “from 2018 until 2023”, remuneration “to directors that was entirely disproportionate” and amounting to over 2.1 million euros, “also in view – as prosecutors Luzi and Schininà write – of the loss of share capital in 2019” and in subsequent financial statements.

And a “negative equity” of over 2 million euros. Furthermore, the company is accused, for example, of concealing that loss of “the entire share capital” as early as the 2019 financial year, by drawing up financial statements up to 2021 that were “not in compliance with the regulations”.

Furthermore, with regard to Ki Holding, public prosecutors have reported false capital gains, amounting to almost 12 million euros, and a series of entries in the balance sheet relating to shareholdings are being challenged.

In 2016, again in relation to Ki Holding, they are said to have distributed dividends, despite all the negative indicators, amounting to almost 1.5 million euros. Furthermore, there are reports of two bank loans known as “Progettoimprese tv 2018” totalling 2.4 million euros in 2020, one of which, according to the prosecution, was subsequently used “for purposes unrelated to the investment programme” via a series of bank transfers.

Furthermore, the suspects – including the MP – are alleged to have distributed dividends totalling over 3.1 million euros since 2015 “to a disproportionate extent”.

An alleged case of aggravated fraud carried out by exploiting business support measures during the Covid period and by deceiving and misleading Invitalia SpA, from which a loan of 2,700,000 euros and a tax credit of 600,000 euro, despite the lack of the ‘prerequisites’ laid down by law for the disbursement of the funding, which was received on 18 March 2021.

This is the charge brought by the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office against the former Minister for Tourism, Daniela Santanchè, her former partner Giovanni Canio Mazzaro and their son Lorenzo, as well as three other individuals, following the latest closure of the investigation into Ki Group Holding,

Ki Gropup srl, Bioera and Unburia Srl. As set out in the document served today on a number of suspects, in addition to allegations of bankruptcy and false accounting, there is a section concerning the matter of funding which, during the pandemic and in connection with a capital increase of 2 million, is alleged to have been received unlawfully by Ki Group srl.

The Fratelli d’Italia senator has been the company’s sole director since its incorporation, 21 January 2019, until 30 April of the same year, when she became chair of the board of directors, a position she held until 15 June 2020, and subsequently served as a director from 14 September 2020 to 10 May 2021.

Mazzaro’s other son, Michele, is also among those under investigation. According to the charge, one of the criteria set by the National Agency for Enterprise Development was circumvented, thereby leading the agency to erroneously disburse the funding, of which 150,000 euros were ‘channelled’ to Umbria srl, due to false statements regarding the 2020 annual accounts – it had been declared that they had been duly filed, whereas in fact there was a report stating “it was impossible to express an opinion” – and tax and social security debts relating to 2019 and 2020, totalling over one million euros, had been omitted from disclosure.

“The notice served on Dr Daniela Ganero Santanché relates to a matter concerning corporate and insolvency proceedings involving various companies within the KI Group, including KI Group Holding S.p.A., KI Group S.r.l. and Bioera S.p.A., in relation to which the senator held positions on the boards of directors at various times.” This was stated in a note by the former minister’s lawyers, Nicolò Pelanda, Salvatore Sanzo and Salvatore Pino.

“Senator Santanché,” they state, “is observing the progress of the proceedings with composure and respect, aware that the notice of the conclusion of the investigation constitutes a routine stage in the legal process, provided for by law to safeguard the right of defence of any person under investigation. In this spirit, Senator Santanché reaffirms her full confidence in the Milanese judiciary and in the proper conduct of the proceedings, in the conviction that the establishment of the facts will take place, as always, in full respect of the right to be heard and the constitutional guarantees underpinning a fair trial. At the same time, Senator Santanché firmly asserts her absolute and total innocence with regard to the allegations made against her, based on the conviction – grounded in the facts and her own conduct – that she has always acted correctly and in accordance with her duties. The defence will have the opportunity to set out in full, in the forums and within the timeframes provided for by the Code of Criminal Procedure, the evidence supporting this position, whilst exercising all the rights of defence recognised by law.”

“In this regard,” the two lawyers continue, “the defence points out that, on the basis of the same charge, some of the conduct in question relates to a period following the termination of the Senator’s corporate appointments, a factor which will be duly emphasised in the defence arguments presented during the proceedings.”

Please note that the notice pursuant to Article 415-bis of the Code of Criminal Procedure marks the conclusion of the preliminary investigations and does not, in any way, constitute a finding of liability, but rather represents a stage at which the person under investigation is required, with the assistance of their defence counsel, to engage with the judicial authorities prior to any further decision being taken”.

Senate: Santanchè granted parliamentary immunity; Immunity Committee report approved

The Senate has recognised that the views expressed in the Chamber by former minister Daniela Santanché are immune from prosecution , thereby refusing to authorise proceedings against her for the offence of defamation of which she stands accused.

The Chamber voted on the proposal from the Committee on Immunities, which had ruled that the matter was not subject to parliamentary scrutiny.

The vote was taken by a show of hands; the M5S and AVS announced that they would vote against the motion.

Last November, Palazzo Madama was summoned by the Court of Rome, which – having granted a motion filed by Santanché’s defence team – had suspended the trial and forwarded the case files to the Senate (the former minister is also a senator for Fratelli d’Italia).

At the heart of the matter are his statements – made in the Chamber on 5 July 2023, concerning the investigation into the company Visibilia editore spa – referring to Giuseppe Zeno, a minority shareholder in the company.

The former minister said that he is “a sort of financier who left Torre del Greco many years ago, moving first to London, then to Switzerland and subsequently to Monte Carlo, and now resides in the Bahamas”, adding that the shareholder “only refers to my implausible and obscure manoeuvres after having unsuccessfully attempted to force me into agreements that were unacceptable to me”.

According to Zeno’s defence team, “the subject of the speech made in the Senate and the attack on Zeno are not linked to her role as a minister but to personal matters relating to her work as an entrepreneur”.