FLORENCE, Italy – An Italian court said on Saturday there was no proof to back up allegations that three executives at Italian lender UniCredit had helped a businessman who prosecutors claimed had links to the Sicilian mafia, according to a court document.
Fabrizio Palenzona, Unicredit deputy chairman, chief risk officer Massimiliano Fossati and Alessandro Cataldo, head of corporate banking in Italy, had been accused by anti-mafia prosecutors of helping to arrange debt restructuring for entrepreneur Andrea Bulgarella.
Prosecutors claimed Mr Bulgarella had links to Matteo Messina Denaro, one of Italy’s most wanted man. Mr Bulgarella has denied any wrongdoing.
But in a ruling on Saturday, the Florence court said no restructuring plan of the debt of the Bulgarella group had ever been approved by UniCredit and that there was no proof to show Mr Bulgarella had relations with the mafia.
According to a document from the court, it annulled the search warrant and said there was no evidence to support allegations of fraud or helping the mafia. It also called on material seized under the warrant to be returned.
“The court could do nothing else but recognise that the search warrant, annulled today (Saturday), was based literally on nothing,” Palenzona’s lawyer Massimo Dinoia said.
UniCredit in a statement confirmed the court decision and said its board had reaffirmed its full confidence in its managers at an extraordinary meeting on the same day.
The bank said there was nothing to suggest Mr Palenzona and Mr Fossati were unfit to retain their positions.
A source close to the matter said Mr Palenzona, Mr Fossati and Mr Cataldo would stay in their jobs.
Earlier this month a source said Mr Fossati and Mr Cataldo were likely to be replaced.
