Moby Bankruptcy, Investigations Closed for Onorato and Sons

The Milan Public Prosecutor's Office is ready to request a fraudulent bankruptcy trial against Vincenzo Onorato and his sons Achille and Alessandro for the management of the Compagnia di Navigazione Italiana – Moby (CIN) group.

The shipowner and his relatives are accused of having impoverished Cin's assets, through "conduct of dissipation or distraction" such as to determine not only "the systematic drainage of resources (...) in favour of Moby" to meet the "financial costs" for the takeover of the two companies themselves, but also for the purchase or rental of apartments in the centre of Milan or for "incongruous" compensation.

The notice of conclusion of the investigations, which precedes the request for trial, was signed by the prosecutors Roberto Fontana, now at the CSM, and Luigi Luzi and was notified a few days ago. "We do not share the results of these assessments" by the Milan Public Prosecutor's Office "for a well-founded and substantial set of reasons, both factual and legal, which we will soon have the opportunity to present to the magistrates to demonstrate the perfect legitimacy of the actions of the Onorato family" is the comment of Pasquale Pantano.

Moby Bankruptcy: Notice of Conclusion of Investigations Ready

The defense attorney then added: "the most significant objections raised against my clients concern evaluations relating to very complex activities". In the document, which focuses on one of the most delicate economic and financial issues of recent years, the three defendants are accused of four episodes.

The first is linked to the acquisition of control of Cin and Moby, the latter company of which Vincenzo was also president with powers of the Board of Directors and the latter directors: the three would have deprived Compagnia Italiana di Navigazione, of which one was a de facto director and the other two by right, "of the liquidity necessary for the regular fulfillment of its obligations and in particular that of the payment of the balance of the purchase price of the branch of the company from the extraordinary administration of Tirrenia spa".

In particular with an “operation functional to the acquisition of total control” of both companies. Among the various disputes, in addition to having favored “the banks that are part of the so-called 'bank financing pool'” by paying them 54 million, of which 50 “as a repayment of capital”, while the group was struggling with serious economic difficulties, the shipowner is charged with the compensation “for the position of chairman of the board of directors in the three-year period 2016-2018 of the annual amount of 3 million, manifestly incongruous with respect to both the average (approx. 600 thousand) and maximum (approx. 1.400 thousand)” values ​​of salaries in the sector and “double the average” abroad.

He is also responsible for the purchase, in July 2017 and at a price of €7 million (over €640.000 in notary fees)”, of a property – used “largely to pay off personal debts to banks” – in Piazza San Babila in Milan: the amount paid was said to be €2 million higher than the market value and the purchase was said to have taken place “with a false indication in the relevant resolution” of the board of directors “of the destination of the property” which in reality was not “for the company’s representation” but rather his “home” in Milan.

The same would have happened for the €4,45 million “purchase and renovation” of Villa Lilium in Arzachena, on the Costa Smeralda, not a “representative and convention venue” but a “vacation home for family members”. And then there are the expenses for the renovation, between 2019 and 2020, of apartments in Naples owned by Vincenzo Onorato’s mother for around €700. The same amount spent on the rental of luxury cars and a Falcon 2000EX for the travel of the three suspects.