Paolo Scaroni, former Director General of ENI and current President of Milan football club, was acquitted in the case of international corruption: it is about giving multimillion bribes to officials and politicians in Algeria.
In February, the Milan Prosecutor asked the court to sentence Scaroni to a prison term of 6 years and 4 months, as well as for the engineering company Saipem – a fine of 900 thousand euros. The court was also asked to impose an eight-year prison sentence on Farid Nureddin Bedjaoui, a Trustee of the then Algerian Minister of energy, who was allegedly the beneficiary of bribes. Prosecutors argued that it was “easier” for ENI to use its subsidiary to move alleged kickbacks.
However, the Milan court decided to acquit the former head of ENI and condemn for corruption the representatives of the former leadership of Saipem, as well as the alleged intermediaries for bribery. Milan court came to the same conclusions as the judge of the preliminary hearing three years ago, according to the Italian edition of Ansa.
Former executives of Saipem, Pietro Varone, Alessandro Bernini and Pietro Tali, and the proposed mediators Farid Bedjaoui, Samir, Orad and Omar khabur were sentenced to terms ranging from five years and five months to four years and one month.
Saipem itself was also found guilty and sentenced to a fine of 400 thousand euros, as well as to the confiscation of 197 million euros – the amount allegedly paid by representatives of the company to the former Minister of Algeria.
Eni, Scaroni and other defendants denied involvement in the crime.
