Delay Could Halt UniCredit Diamond Fraud Case
April 12, 22
(IDEX Online) - A legal case against Italian banks and diamond brokers has been delayed after a judge ruled it should take place in Trieste rather than Milan.
UniCredit, Italy's second biggest bank, is among those alleged to have sold diamonds to clients for investment at vastly-inflated prices.
The delayed prosecution could result in charges being dropped, as they are subject to a seven-year time limit.
Documents issued by the Milan-based prosecutors last year indicate that the allegedly fraudulent diamond sales ended in 2016, after which all the banks started reimbursing clients and many began buying back diamonds at the original selling price.
"We are satisfied that the judge has granted our request for a transfer," UniCredit's lawyer Giuseppe Iannaccone told Reuters. He insisted the allegations were baseless.