Italian police search former defense exec’s home in corruption probe

ROME — Magistrates in Italy are probing former Leonardo and Fincantieri officials as part of an investigation into alleged corruption.

Police removed computer files from the homes of ex-Leonardo CEO Alessandro Profumo and a former Italian Italian prime minister, Massimo D’Alema, and are probing former Fincantieri executive Giuseppe Giordo amid claims bribes were offered to Columbian officials to buy planes and ships.

Gianluca Luongo, D’Alema’s lawyer told Defense News the men were accused of offering the bribes while seeking to organize kickbacks in return.

“We deny all wrongdoing, my client’s involvement in talks was totally transparent,” he said.

Italian media outlets which obtained leaked copies of investigative documents reported magistrates in Naples in southern Italy are focusing on talks to sell M-346 jets built by state-controlled Leonardo, and corvettes and small submarines produced by state-controlled ship yard Fincantieri.

The deal, which did not go ahead, was worth four billion euros and involved suspected kickbacks and bribes worth 80 million euros, the reports stated.

Profumo ran Leonardo from 2017 to last month while Giordo was hired as head of naval operations at Fincantieri in 2019 after a long career with Leonardo’s aircraft division when the firm was known as Finmeccanica.

Before joining Fincantieri he also ran Czech firm Aero Vodochody. His lawyer told Italian financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore that Giordo denied all wrongdoing.

D’Alema, who was Italy’s prime minister from 1998 to 2000 and foreign minister from 2006 to 2008 has said he did get involved in talks to sell planes and ships to Colombia.

“But he merely put the two sides in touch,” said his laywer, Luongo.

Police are now scrutinizing D’Alema’s emails, Whatsapp messages and computer files, he added.

“I am not sure who is behind this investigation but it is very strange and appears to be a trap from the start,” he said.

Italian magistrates are also probing former Colombian foreign minister Marta Lucia Ramirez and other officials, Italian media reported.

Lucia Ramirez tweeted that she was “not involved in the purchasing of military equipment.”

Leonardo was rocked in 2013 by a legal probe by Naples magistrates into the alleged payment of bribes to India linked to a €560 million ($600 million) deal to sell 12 AW101 helicopters.

The head of the Italian firm was arrested as the case wound through Italy’s labyrinthine justice system before the country’s supreme court handed down acquittals in the case in 2019.

By that time the helicopter deal was cancelled and India had ordered a ban on the buying of defense products from Italy, which was only lifted in late 2021.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——意大利地方法官正在调查前莱昂纳多集团和芬坎蒂尼集团的官员，这是对涉嫌腐败行为调查的一部分。

警方从前莱昂纳多集团首席执行官亚历山德罗·普罗富莫和前意大利总理马西莫·达莱马的家中带走了电脑文件，并正在调查前芬坎蒂尼集团高管朱塞佩·乔尔多，据称他曾向哥伦比亚官员行贿以购买飞机和轮船。

达莱马的律师吉安卢卡·卢昂戈告诉《防务新闻》，这些人被指控行贿，同时试图组织回扣作为回报。

他说：“我们否认所有不当行为，我的客户参与谈判的过程完全透明。”

获得泄露调查文件的意大利媒体报道称，意大利南部那不勒斯的法官们正在集中精力进行谈判，以出售由国营的莱昂纳多公司制造的M-346喷气式飞机，以及由国营的芬坎蒂尼造船厂生产的轻型护卫舰和小潜艇。

报道称，这笔最终未能达成的交易价值 40 亿欧元，并涉及涉嫌 8000 万欧元的回扣和贿赂。

Profumo 从 2017 年到上个月一直担任 Leonardo 的首席执行官，而 Giordo 在 Leonardo 的飞机部门（当时名为 Finmeccanica）工作多年后，于 2019 年被聘为 Fincantieri 的海军运营主管。

在加入芬坎蒂尼集团之前，他还经营着捷克公司Aero Vodochody。他的律师告诉意大利财经日报《24小时太阳报》，乔尔多否认所有不当行为。

曾于 1998 年至 2000 年担任意大利总理、2006 年至 2008 年担任外交部长的达莱马表示，他确实参与了向哥伦比亚出售飞机和舰船的谈判。

“但他只是促成了双方的联系，”他的律师卢昂戈说道。

他补充说，警方目前正在仔细审查达莱马的电子邮件、WhatsApp消息和电脑文件。

“我不确定是谁在幕后策划这项调查，但这非常奇怪，而且似乎从一开始就是个陷阱，”他说。

据意大利媒体报道，意大利法官也在调查哥伦比亚前外交部长玛尔塔·卢西亚·拉米雷斯和其他官员。

露西亚·拉米雷斯在推特上表示，她“没有参与军事装备的采购”。

2013 年，莱昂纳多公司因涉嫌向印度行贿而受到那不勒斯地方法官的法律调查，该调查与一项价值 5.6 亿欧元（6 亿美元）的 12 架 AW101 直升机销售交易有关。

这家意大利公司的负责人被捕，案件在意大利错综复杂的司法系统中辗转审理，直到 2019 年该国最高法院对此案作出无罪判决。

到那时，直升机交易已被取消，印度也下令禁止从意大利购买国防产品，该禁令直到 2021 年底才解除。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。