Ranucci denied by Zimbabwe's ambassador

Rome – "No business with Lavitola, we were just friends." Sigfrido Ranucci denies reports that he had business with Valter Lavitola, who confessed to instigating the attack against him.

Moreover, not even Natàlia Potenza, the fixer's ex-partner, revealed any business dealings between the two in her lengthy testimony before Rome's anti-mafia magistrates.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's former partner, Benjamin Chimutengo, reveals that last January he was the victim of a car sabotage that Valter Lavitola may have been behind.

However, regarding the Zimbabwe case and the pro-Lavitola interview given by the former Report host regarding the carbon credit issue, the host may be in trouble. After news broke of a meeting between the journalist and the African country's ambassador to Rome, which took place at Lavitola's Cefalù bistro, Ranucci stated that he had spoken with the diplomat only about matters relating to the Mattei Plan and the situation in Africa—in short, matters unrelated to the dispute between the fixer and his former African partner, Benjamin Chimutengo. However, the ambassador, questioned by Martino Villosio of Tg1, reported that in that almost casual meeting, the African entrepreneur was also discussed with Sigfrido Ranucci.

And it's Chimutengo himself who, caught by the cameras of "Lo Stato delle Cose," the program hosted by Massimo Giletti, blasts Valter Lavitola. In a preview of the interview that will air tonight, the entrepreneur reveals that he was the victim of sabotage that may have been orchestrated by the Italian fixer and his right-hand man, Gomes Clesio Tavares, who is still at large.

"When Valter gets angry, he resorts to threats... Gomes' name had already been mentioned in the past; in January, my car was sabotaged, then I found certain messages and subsequently discovered payments to people involved. There are elements in this affair that, taken together, worry me." Chimutengo says, citing papers and messages exchanged between Lavitola and his lawyer in Zimbabwe, in which the fixer asks the lawyer to verify whether a supposed police officer is willing to "take care of the situation with Benjamin." In another message, the lawyer responds that there is a police officer ready to take care of Chimutengo, in exchange for $30.

In short, the former partner in the carbon credit deal is believed to be convinced that Valter Lavitola was plotting against him. This international intrigue also highlights the role of Sigfrido Ranucci, who allegedly supported Lavitola's media coverage with an interview in which he called Chimutengo a fraud.