A no confidence motion filed by the
opposition against Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè amid
several criminal probes will be discussed in the House next
Wednesday, April 3, caucus chiefs decided Wednesday.
Santanchè faces several probes that may result in prosecution
and has said she would quit if she were prosecuted.
In the most serious case, she could face charges of aggravated
fraud against the Italian national pensions and social security
institute INPS over alleged irregular management of funds made
available for redundancy payments during the Covid-19 pandemic,
following a probe into allegedly improper business practices
related to her former Visibilia publishing empire.
News of the investigation emerged last summer after
investigative journalism programme Report on Rai 3 reported that
businesses linked to Santanche' , a leading member of Premier
Giorgia Meloni's right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party,
allegedly failed to pay suppliers and dismissed workers without
giving them redundancy payments, as well as allegedly improperly
receiving COVID aid, prompting calls for her to quit.
The 62-year-old minister, who sold her stake in Visibilia when
she became minister, has denied all wrongdoing.
She has said she is innocent and has vowed to clear her name if
the cases come to court.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
