Overview

• On July 15 the Milan court’s second criminal panel declared the indictment against Visibilia srl in liquidazione null for generic and indeterminate imputations, removing the corporate defendant from the false-accounting case
• Judges adjourned the trial of 16 individuals, including Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè, to September 16 to resolve disputes over admitting small shareholders as civil parties and to begin evidence proceedings
• Public prosecutors Marina Gravina and Luigi Luzi criticized the postponement as jeopardizing the investigation into alleged misstatements in Visibilia’s 2016–22 financial statements by risking the statute-of-limitations
• Magistrates had previously ordered prosecutors in April and again in July to rewrite unclear or vague charges after finding defects that compromised defendants’ right to defense
• A separate preliminary hearing on alleged Covid-related fraud involving Santanchè and INPS has been deferred to October, extending the minister’s legal challenges