Former Forza Italia senator Marcello Dell'Utri and his wife Miranda Ratti have been sent to trial in Milan over the alleged donations of approximately 42 million euros, in eight bank transfers, received from Silvio Berlusconi between 2014 and 2023 .
Milan's preliminary hearing judge, Giulia Marozzi, made the decision today. The first hearing will be held on July 9th before the Second Criminal Section of the Court.
In March 2025, the case was transferred from Florence to Milan due to territorial jurisdiction based on an objection raised by defense attorneys Francesco Centonze and Filippo Dinacci.
Dell'Utri, who was definitively convicted of mafia association, is required by law to report changes in his assets. He allegedly failed to declare the bank transfers received from Berlusconi , which led to his being investigated for violating the Rognoni-La Torre law. His wife, however, is alleged to have held fictitious assets. The donations were made over several years, and some of them have expired under the statute of limitations. Furthermore, in March 2024, €10.84 million was seized from the former senator.
According to Florence prosecutors, the money donated by the Forza Italia founder to the former Publitalia manager was intended to guarantee him immunity from prosecution for his alleged involvement in the 1993 massacres. However, the exclusion of the mafia-related aggravating circumstance, already ruled out by the Florentine preliminary hearing judge, has altered the prosecution's case, separating him from the massacres, and the proceedings have been transferred to the Lombardy capital, where the former senator lives.
(Unioneonline/L)
