Unipegaso and newspapers advertise to 'hide' news about the investigation.

Minister Anna Maria Bernini? "A rigid and a bitch." Domenico Vaccarano, head of Unipegaso, and fixer and former journalist Luigi bisognani, thus criticized the government member who was supposed to extend the "exceptional" rules on remote exams for online universities and who refused to bow to pressure.

Excerpts of conversations are also included in the search warrant, executed on October 6, against the top management of the Unipegaso-Multiversity group, which is being investigated by the Naples Prosecutor's Office and which includes 22 suspects, including the editorial and journalistic heads of major Italian newspapers.

It is the second strand of the investigation (the first involves the former president of the online university, Danilo Iervolino, and 40 suspects), which is shaking the world of Italian journalism, with hypothetical charges ranging from criminal conspiracy to incitement to corruption, to corruption between private individuals between the UniPegaso-Multiversity group led by Vaccaronoe and CEO Francesco Durante and the editorial and journalistic top management. 

Minister Bernini pressured by fixer Luigi Bisignani to allow remote exams.

Minister Bernini, who was questioned by magistrates on April 2, is not under investigation. Indeed, as evidenced by the charges, she apparently resisted pressure from Vaccarono and Bisignani, who, after their attempts to obtain an extension for remote exams failed, called her "a rigid and sh…." 

According to this new strand of the investigation by the Naples Prosecutor's Office—coordinated by Deputy Prosecutors Sergio Amato and Sergio Ferrigno, and by Deputy Prosecutors Vincenzo Piscitelli, Henry John Woodcock, and Francesca Paola Colonna Romano—Vaccarono, Durante, Andrea Ferrante, and Gianpiero Mazza, as senior representatives of the CVC Italia fund that owns the group, Gianluca Comin and Gianluca Giansante, as president and operating partner of "Comin Partners," and Andrea Buonomo (already at Pegaso during Iervolino's management and with Vaccarono in the new management) allegedly formed a criminal conspiracy with the aim of committing "an unspecified series of corruptions between private individuals, incitement to corruption, and, where necessary, extortion," in exchange for articles that would not damage the group's image.

Advertising, investments, and training courses to keep the press 'good'

Precisely when the first news of the Naples investigation emerged, the "battery of fire" to dampen the media impact was launched. Investigative activities, in fact, began following the discovery, last June, of the investigation into Pegaso University, involving unskilled enrollment for undergraduate and graduate programs, a matter conceived during the period in which Danilo Iervolino was in charge. About forty people were under investigation in the investigation, and over 4.200 enrollments were deemed irregular by the magistrates.

According to Neapolitan magistrates, the suspects allegedly established "a network of relationships with publishing groups, advertising agencies, newspaper editors, and press agencies," and, leveraging the "promise, provision, reactivation, and increase in advertising investments," attempted to "influence, silence, attenuate, and delay the publication of news regarding the investigations into the Pegaso Online University and the Multiversity group, thereby reducing their financial and reputational impact."

Editorial and journalistic executives of major Italian groups investigated for private corruption

The list of those under investigation includes managers and senior figures from various publishing groups and publications. Among them are Mirja Cartia D'Asero and Mario Orfeo, former editor of La Repubblica, for the Gedi group; Andrea Malaguti, former editor of La Stampa; Alessandro Bompieri and Uberto Fornara for RCS; Francesco Cancellato, director of Fanpage; and Gaspare Giuseppe Borsellino of the Italpress agency.

Also involved in the proceedings are Claudio Cerasa, director of Il Foglio, Walter Giuseppe Bonanno, CEO of Piemme, manager Fernando Diana, Stefano Cecchetti of the Libero Editoriale group, Cinzia Monteverdi, CEO of Il Fatto Quotidiano, Peter Gomez, co-director of Il Fatto Quotidiano, and Federico Silvestri of Il Sole 24 Ore.

Obviously, all those under investigation are presumed innocent until a final verdict is reached. The journalists involved say they are ready to clarify everything, and the investigation notice will allow them to contest the charges outlined in the search warrant executed by the Naples Financial Police.

President Vaccarono's phone calls with newspaper editors to 'fix' headlines and articles

Numerous contacts existed between Multiversity's top management, particularly Vaccarono, and publishers and editors of newspapers. Among the incidents reconstructed through wiretaps are those with Seif, the publishing company of Il Fatto Quotidiano, and Peter Gomez. The publishing group allegedly collaborated with Unipegaso on training projects and maintained relationships regarding advertising investments.

On June 8, 2026, prosecutors reconstruct, Vaccarono contacted Seif CEO Cinzia Monteverdi after news of the investigation into former UniPegaso CEO Danilo Iervolino spread. The Multiversity president asked her to address the content of an article, specifically a headline that appeared online, which referred to an alleged "clique" involved in falsifying exams and degrees. Monteverdi advised him to contact the newspaper's online editor, Gomez, directly.

The phone call between Vaccarono and the director of Il Fatto Online, Peter Gomez, to remove the headline about the 'clique'

Vaccarono then allegedly contacted Gomez to dispute the use of the word "clicca" and received assurances that he could intervene in the online publication. According to the prosecutors who subsequently investigated Gomez, the intervention consisted of removing the article from the newspaper's website. The newspaper, however, specified that the article remained online for several hours.

On the same day, according to the investigative reconstruction, Vaccarono and Giansante also spoke with Fiorenza Sarzanini, co-director of the Corriere della Sera, who is not under investigation.

Domani's pressure attempts and Fanpage's 'real-time' elimination

The documents also reconstruct contacts with Emiliano Fittipaldi, editor-in-chief of Domani, who is not under investigation. During a conversation, UniPegaso executives reportedly discussed increased advertising investments and the possibility of expanding collaborations with the publishing group. Another incident involves Francesco Cancellato, editor-in-chief of Fanpage, who is also under investigation. Vaccarono reportedly proposed increased investments and asked for the creation of a monitoring network favorable to the group.

In a subsequent conversation with Comin, Vaccarono also reportedly commented favorably on Cancellato's comment on the title of an article, claiming that the Fanpage director had changed it 'in real time'.

Contacts with the publishing world, in some cases, reportedly yielded favorable results for the Multiversity group; in others, they remained at the negotiation stage. Among the relationships cited are those with Repubblica, for which former editor Mario Orfeo is under investigation, with Piemme of the Caltagirone group, with Il Foglio, directed by Claudio Cerasa, and with CityNews, publisher of NapoliToday. In the case of Il Foglio, the negotiations reportedly involved the prospect of an advertising investment of up to €300.

The list of suspects: 

Criminal association

Fabio Domenico Vaccarono

Francesco Durante

Andrea Ferrante

Corruption and incitement to crime

Gianluca Comin

Gianluca Giansante of Comin&partners

Giampiero Mazza of CVC Adviser Italia srl

Andrea Buonomo Multiversity spa

Competition in corruption between private individuals

Mirja Cartia d'Asero, president of the Gedi publishing group's CDC

Alessandro Furgione Manzoni

Mario Orpheus

Andrea Malaguti

Umberto Fornara CEO of Cairo Rcs

Alessandro Bompieri RCS

Federico Silvestri Il Sole 24 ore ad

Valter Giuseppe Bonanno, CEO of PM Spa, Caltagirone Group dealership

Stefano Cecchetti, general manager of Libero

Cinzia Monteverdi at Il Fatto Spa

Peter Gomez co-director of Il Fatto

Francesco Cancelled Fanpage

Claudio Cerasa Il Foglio

Gaspare Giuseppe Borsellino, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Italpress

Fernando Diana, CEO of City News Spa, which publishes Napoli Today