A dramatic turn of events in the Santanchè case: lawyer Salvatore Pino joins the minister's defense team, replacing lawyer Salvatore Sanzo, and joins defense lawyer Nicolò Pelanda.
Salvatore Pino himself announced to the judge a request for "defense terms" to study the proceedings on the aggravated fraud against INPS, with a hearing scheduled for tomorrow. The preliminary hearing judge Gueli should therefore limit herself to accepting the request and then set another date for the continuation of the proceedings, also because the other lawyer, Pelanda, has another defense commitment.
In the hearing, scheduled for tomorrow morning at 11 on the seventh floor of the Palace of Justice, however, the preliminary hearing judge would not have reached a decision on whether or not to send the Minister of Tourism and the other defendants to trial. After the Court of Cassation established that the proceedings remain in Milan due to territorial jurisdiction, in fact, the preliminary issues phase is still open and the defense could raise others. Then, the floor will be given to the prosecutors Marina Gravina and Luigi Luzi who will reiterate the request for trial and finally the civil party INPS, with the lawyer Aldo Tagliente, and the defense will speak. Therefore, at least two more hearings will be needed before reaching a decision. In the meantime, the preliminary hearing judge has moved on to another role in the Court and has, however, been extended to the preliminary hearing office until March 31 and could, however, remain applied to conclude this preliminary hearing.
According to the prosecutors, the senator of FdI, her partner Dimitri Kunz and Paolo Giuseppe Concordia, an external collaborator with personnel management functions at Visibilia Editore and Visibilia Concessionaria - companies of the group founded by the minister, from which she left in 2022, and also accused - were aware of having "unduly" requested and obtained the redundancy fund "to support companies affected by the effects" of the Covid pandemic for 13 employees for over 126 thousand euros.
Santanchè, like the other two, is accused by the prosecutors of having "falsely declared" that those employees were on "zero-hour" pay, while in fact they were carrying out "their duties" in "smart working". Visibilia Editore has already asked to plea bargain and the two companies of the group have already compensated INPS.
(Online Union)