Insight ITALY


THE PREFECT STORM


Francesco Corallo, clears his name and debts, but his


concession hangs in the balance


The owner of Italian Concessionaire B Plus, Francesco Corallo, has signed an agreement with Banca Popolare di Milano (BPM) which looks to resolves the outstanding matters with Italian authorities, but might not be enough to secure B Plus’ gaming concessionaire licence for the future.


Mr. Corallo has closed the relationship with Popolare di Milano by clearing the €25m balance of the loan granted by the bank at the time of Massimo Ponzellini. The President of the Bank, Andrea Bonomi has since withdrawn its complaint against B Plus.


Although Mr. Corallo has not returned to Italy, he has been released by the Supreme Court of Cassation for the crime of conspiracy. With regard to the second charge, a private corruption under Article 2635 of the Civil Code, the prosecution can proceed only upon a complaint from an injured party. As the complaint from Banca Popolare di Milano has been withdrawn, there is no charge to answer.


However, having cleared himself and his company from any accusations of wrong- doing, the Italian Gaming Monopoly,


February 2013 PAGE 38 “The appeal hearing concerning


the concession was adjourned to February 12


because the matter with BPM has been


resolved and B Plus has come through without any


negative marks against us. Our


legal team is now involved in extensive


discussions with the Monopoly in order to have their


previous decision concerning the renewal of the concession


overturned and we are extremely confident of a


positive outcome.” B Plus


Spokesperson. EVEN THE


WITHDRAWAL OF THE COMPLAINT BY BPM MIGHT


NOT BE ENOUGH TO REVERSE THE AAMS’ DECISION.


AAMS, has yet to reverse its decision exclude B Plus from the renewal of its gaming concession.


The exclusion has been challenged by B Plus and in its first hearing was won by AAMS, though an appeal before the Council of State is still pending. The decision should have been heard in January, but the administrative judges postponed the hearing pending the judgement from the Supreme Court of Cassation. The next hearing is scheduled for February 12, 2013.


A spokesperson for B Plus stated: “The appeal hearing concerning the concession was adjourned to February 12 because the matter with BPM has been resolved and B Plus has come through without any negative marks against us. Our legal team is now involved in extensive discussions with the Monopoly in order to have their previous decision concerning the renewal


of the concession overturned and we are extremely confident of a positive outcome.”


However, even the withdrawal of the complaint by BPM might not be enough to reverse the decision. AAMS’ decision to excluded B Plus from the tender was taken on the basis of a statement from the Prefect of Rome. The Prefect made comments that he feared B Plus was connected to illegal activities, despite the fact that B Plus had already been cleared of any Mafia connections by the Italian courts in the past, and there’s no new evidence to suggest otherwise at present. The position is, however, that if the Prefect does not change his statement then AAMS would be unable to reverse its decision.


One further unresolved issue is the complaint by B Plus against the President of the Poplare di Milano, which was claimed by Mr. Corallo to have used his his role in the bank to benefit two other Italian concessionaires and competitors to B Plus, each controlled by his investment fund (Investindustrial), Snai and Cogetech. No announcement about this action has been forthcoming. The only debate that appears to be taking place outside the courts is whether the rumours that Mr. Corallo is considering the possible sale of B Plus are true.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140