Fiorentino, former CEO of Carige, sentenced to four years
Judges order compensation of EUR 28.6 million for Malacalza Investimenti
2' min read
2' min read
Paolo Fiorentino, the former CEO of Carige and now managing director of Banca Progetto, was sentenced to four years' imprisonment and a €50,000 fine in Milan as part of the trial on the Genoese credit institution, with the 2018 half-yearly report and the alleged failure to disclose to the market the need to write down non-performing loans for hundreds of millions of euro at its centre. This was decided by the judges of the third criminal section, who also imposed two years and six months on the then head of bookkeeping, Mauro Mangani.
The judges, presided over by Ilio Mannucci Pacini, also sentenced Carige, incorporated by Bper and defendant as an entity, to a fine of EUR 700,000 (700 quotas worth EUR 1,000 each) and ordered Malacalza Investimenti, the main plaintiff, to pay almost EUR 28.6 million in provisional damages, which the defendants will have to pay jointly and severally. The damages will be addressed in a civil case. Fiorentino was also declared banned from public office for five years. Grounds will be filed in 90 days.
The Court went beyond the requests of prosecutor Paolo Filippini, who last June had proposed three and a half years' imprisonment and EUR 200,000 fine for Fiorentino, two years and four months and EUR 200,000 fine for Mangani, and EUR 600,000 fine for the bank. The charges are market manipulation and false corporate communications.
'Sentences are respected and, obviously, we have great respect for the court in Milan. After that we will wait for the motivations, we will read them carefully and, since we are firmly convinced of Fiorentino's innocence, we will have room in the appeal," said Giuseppe Iannaccone, lawyer, defending the former Carige CEO.
Fiorentino is also CEO of Banca Progetto, which was placed under judicial administration by the Court of Milan last October. The bank's board of directors, however, after the ruling, 'unanimously renewed its full confidence' in Fiorentino, 'who,' reads a note from the bank, 'will continue in his mandate'.
