Giovanni Berneschi, former president of Banca Carige, was sentenced to 8 years and two months in the context of the trial for the maxi scam against the Carige Vita Nuova insurance branch.
The sentence came after about two hours in the council chamber. Last November, prosecutor Silvio Franz had asked for a six-year sentence for him. Berneschi will be subjected to probation for the entire duration of the sentence. The Court also ordered the confiscation of 26 million and the payment of a provisional amount for the civil parties (also owed by the accountant Andrea Vallebuona, amounting to one million and 800 thousand euros.
The maxi scam consisted in having the bank's insurance branch buy real estate and company shares of compliant entrepreneurs at inflated prices to reinvest the capital gains abroad. The scam allegedly earned Berneschi and the other defendants about 22 million. They were accused of conspiracy to commit fraud, money laundering, forgery.
