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Milan Appeals Court Acquits Lara Comi of Corruption, Cuts Sentence to One Year Suspended

Judges applied a 2023 Constitutional Court ruling that made WhatsApp chats unusable without parliamentary authorization.

Overview

  • The panel threw out the corruption count and one fraud episode, upholding only a fraud conviction tied to European Parliament funds with a €500 fine added to the suspended term.
  • The court credited Comi’s €500,000 reimbursement to the European Parliament as a mitigating factor equivalent to the aggravating circumstance.
  • Her first-instance sentence of four years and two months from 2023 was reduced to one year after the evidentiary exclusion.
  • Comi said she will challenge the remaining conviction in the Court of Cassation.
  • The appeal reshaped outcomes for other Mensa dei Poveri defendants, including the acquittal of ex-MP Diego Sozzani and reduced penalties for Daniele D’Alfonso and Giuseppe Zingale, with overall tallies reported as 7 convictions, 11 plea bargains and 57 acquittals.