Justice min denies meddling in high-profile fraud case

(ANSA) – Rome, November 5 – Italian Justice Minister Anna Maria Cancellieri spoke before the Senate Tuesday and denied interfering in a high-profile fraud case involving family ties. “I never solicited the appropriate authorities to release Giulia Ligresti from prison and I never called on others to do so,” said Cancellieri. Ligresti is a member of a major Italian business dynasty who was arrested along with her sister Lionella in July for alleged involvement in cooking the books at the Fonsai insurance group. In August Ligresti was released to house arrest. Her father Salvatore Ligresti, the family patriarch and former honorary chairman of Fonsai, is also under house arrest along with two former executives from the insurance company. The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement has called for the resignation of Cancellieri, who admits to calling judicial authorities about the case but says it was strictly to inform them that Giulia Ligresti suffered from anorexia and depression.

Cancellieri’s son, Piergiorgio Peluso, is a former manager at the insurance group, giving the M5s ammunition in their allegations that this is a case of people with friends in high places receiving better treatment from the justice system than ordinary people.

On Tuesday the minister, who is not aligned to any party, repeated she was ready to step down if the country asked her to while defending her innocence.