They lent money at usury to a friend in difficulty: mother and son from Battipaglia sentenced

The Court of Cassation, with a ruling dated 17 September last, accepted the exception of
inadmissibility of the appeal advanced by the defense of Sos Impresa Salerno against a defendant
for usury, already convicted in the first and second degree, definitively confirming his sentence. It is
Furthermore, a provisional compensation was awarded to the victim of usury.
assisted by the association's team of lawyers.
The story began at the beginning of 2011, when a Battipaglia trader in obvious difficulty
economic, unable to honor her debts, she was forced to ask for a loan from some acquaintances who granted it to her at usurious rates.
The requests to pay the requested amount of money with insistent frequency soon turned into real threats, to which the victim decided to react by reporting everything to the police and to the association Sos Impresa Salerno to defend herself from the intimidations of her tormentors.
The ones who ended up on trial were mother and son.
The mother chose the abbreviated trial and was convicted of usury and aggravated extortion in the first degree,
with a sentence confirmed on appeal. The son chose to go to trial and at the end of the trial he was convicted of having participated in the crime of usury, a sentence later confirmed in the second instance by the
Court of Appeal of Salerno.
Today the Court of Cassation puts an end to this human and judicial affair, with the conviction
definitive also for the son for aggravated usury, with the confirmation of the compensation for damages in favour
of the victim who, assisted by the lawyers of Sos Impresa throughout the entire legal process, had the courage to first report and then to join the civil action.
A courage that allowed her to free herself from the intimidations of her tormentors and to see herself
compensation for damages was recognized. The defense team for the civil party is composed of lawyers Antonio Picarella, Tommaso Battaglini and Massimiliano Forte.
«It is an important result that confirms the thesis that we have been carrying forward since the first day of our
constitution: it is worth reporting – explains the president Tommaso Battaglini – because only through the
reporting and the subsequent ascertainment of the crime, the victim can access the benefits provided for by the
law and the Solidarity Fund".