The Winter Olympics investigation

Milan Cortina Foundation, investigators' accusation: 'False invoicing to Deloitte'

In the meantime, the prosecutors are asking for the intervention of the Consulta (or the filing of the case) for the first line of investigation: the issue to be clarified is the private or public nature of the Games entity, from which a different interpretation of the offences derives

by Sara Monaci

16 April 2025

3' min read

Key points

The First Inquiry: The Nature of the Foundation
Deloitte in the crosshairs

3' min read

The investigation into the 2026 Winter Olympics is bifurcating: on the one hand, a request for archiving - or alternatively for intervention by the Consulta -; on the other, a possible new charge for Deloitte, consultant to the Milan Cortina Foundation for digital services.

The First Inquiry: The Node of the Nature of the Foundation

With regard to the first point, the alleged offences are bid-rigging and bribery, on the assumption that the Foundation is a public body, being governmentally and institutionally appointed and relying on public financial guarantees.

This is the reason for the dispute concerning the 2020-2021 contract, in which Luca Tomassini, the Vetrya entrepreneur who won the contract, the former CEO of the Foundation Vincenzo Novari, and Massimiliano Zuco, a former manager, have been under investigation since May 2024. In addition to the strand on the digitalisation contract won by Vetrya, there is also the one on staff recruitment methods.

The charge against them had started out as bribery, later redefined by the court of re-examination as bribery among private individuals, but the views among investigators remained different, precisely because the node of the Foundation's legal nature was not resolved.

The situation then became even more complicated. Immediately after the seizure of 21 May by the Gdf's Economic and Financial Police Unit against the three suspects, the government hastened to draft a decree clarifying that the Milano Cortina Foundation was a private law body, evidently aiming to bring down the crime hypotheses of bribery and bid-rigging.

A fact that Milan's deputy public prosecutor, Tiziana Siciliano, described as"of unprecedented gravity", speaking of an "illegitimate" decree. Chief Prosecutor Marcello Viola also explained that the body 'although it qualifies, by virtue of a primary legislation, as a non-profit body operating under private law, in reality it has a substantially public nature, pursuing a general interest purpose, with members, resources and guarantees from the State and local authorities'.

In addition, last February even the Anac, the National Anti-Corruption Authority, in an in-depth study sent to the Winter Olympics organising committee, wrote that the Foundation qualifies as a public law body for three reasons: because the management bodies are publicly appointed; it pursues a public interest of general significance; and it does not incur any business risk, since any budget deficits are borne by the state and local authorities.

Now the prosecutors are asking the gip Patrizia Nobile to send the acts to the Consulta in order to untie the legal knot on the Foundation or to proceed with the archiving. A radical request that highlights the central node of the investigation.

Deloitte in the crosshairs

On the other front, the one that puts a spotlight on Deloitte's work, the investigators are continuing. The Milan Public Prosecutor's Office with the Pef unit of the Milan Finance Police is investigating alleged over-invoicing by the Foundation organising the Winter Olympics to pay Deloitte.

The file of public prosecutors Francesco Cajani and Alessandro Gobbis, with the addition of Siciliano, stems from the first line of investigation. According to a 25 June report by the Gdf, Deloitte was at the same time partner-supplier to the organising committee for cybersecurity and technological integration and sponsor with the possibility of exploiting the image rights of the international sports event.

In the report of the Fiamme gialle, there is talk of an alleged 'bribe ring' and led the financiers to conduct a series of witness hearings among managers and employees of the multinational consultancy company. The Milan-Cortina Foundation is alleged to have incurred a 'higher cost' of 4 million euro to Deloitte to 'produce from scratch' the website that 'had already been created' by Vetrya-Quybit for '300 thousand euro'.

'This stuff will cost them a hundred thousand euro, they'll charge four million,' Novari told Tomassini, intercepted. "Then I'll tell you what's behind it," he adds. The third suspect Zuco says that the bribes do not go 'towards Vincenzo (Novari, ed.) who does not take them, because at most he makes other types of agreements'.

'Spend four to make Deloitte happy,' Zuco added. The hypothesis under investigation is that some services were over-invoiced, in fact making the sponsorships free of charge. For now, tax offences are on the table, but the investigation continues.