The Guardia di Finanza searched the headquarters of the Popular Bank of Vicenza. The operation was ordered by the Vicenza Public Prosecutor's Office, where account holders had arrived exposed in recent weeks.
Among others, the president of the Bank is under investigation for market manipulation and obstruction of supervision John Zonin and the institute's former general manager Samuel Sorato. The offenses would have been committed until December 2014.
Searches are underway against the people involved in the investigation, other subjects not under investigation and at the administrative and legal headquarters in Vicenza and the executive offices in Milan, Rome, Palermo of the Popolare di Vicenza.
Zonin, a wine industrialist, has been at the helm of the popular company since 1996. Sorato, a former general manager and managing director, left the institute last spring after an ECB inspection revealed a series of irregularities.
The Bank's last half-year closed with losses of over one billion and the institution announced a recapitalization of up to 1,5 billion.
