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Valentino Rossi yes, Philip Morris no.
Vincenzo Visco, Finance Minister of the center-left government of Romano Prodi
"Coglione": is a very vulgar term, today commonly used in Italy, recently also in the political field.
"I am a fan of his, but the Law is the same for everyone”, said Vincenzo Visco, current Finance Minister of the Italian Government; he was referring to the report on the tax evasion of Valentino Rossi. The motorcycle champion allegedly hid 60 million euro of taxable income from the Internal Revenue Agency.
However, when the Managing Director of the State Monopoly, Ernesto Del Gizzo sent a report on the tax evasion of Philip Morris (60,591 billion old lire equal to about 30 billion euro) for the period from 1975 to 1995, Minister Visco's reaction was:
“Your claims are seriously incautious”. Why didn't Visco say: "I smoke Marlboros, but the Law is the same for everyone"?
Here is what Mr. Del Gizzo said about the reactions to his Marlboro report: “Fantozzi (the Finance Minister of the preceding Berlusconi government) told me that if I continued, I would run into trouble”. Visco offered me the appointment to the Council of State – Consiglio di Stato, if I would change my attitude.
Augusto Fantozzi, Finance Minister of the center-right government of Silvio Berlusconi
The head prosecuting attorney of the Court of Naples, Cordova, in 1995 asked for the indictment of the top Philip Morris officials for smuggling and tax evasion. Said Del Gizzo, “Just a short time before the hearings began in Naples, they tried to bribe me: they wanted me to say during the first hearing on the 16th of February 1998 that I had made a mistake. They offered me 30 billion lire (15 million Euro) and promised to reinstate me in my position as Managing Director of the Monopolies”.
Mr. Del Gizzo's integrity and inflexibility was futile. The fourth section of the Court of Naples decided shortly thereafter to declare itself incompetent on the case. The burning issue is now at the Court of Milan where it seems to have been forgotten.
Valentino Rossi
So, for the joy of Visco and those like him in this country of "coglioni” called Italy, Philip Morris, the greatest tax dodger in the country's history, succeeded in not paying a single cent.
And it has continued to benefit from favours and gifts, all at the expense of Italian tax-payers.
On 23 November 2007, Yesmoke sent to the General Prosecutor of the Republic of Turin the report on Philip Morris's unpaid tax bill in Italy: a total of 60,591 billion lire from 1975 to 1995, equal to about 30 billion euro. Yesmoke reports Philip Morris tax evasion
"Mani Pulite II – Operation Clean Hands II"
The favors lavished on Philip Morris in Italy are of a very different scale even compared to the figures of “Mani pulite". See the box: "Mani pulite I – Clean Hands I"
Who can be so sure that, one day or another, the Italian people will not find out that while they are struggling to pay their taxes, Philip Morris got away with 60 thousand billion of their lire? Can the multitude of political brown-nosers feel easy and safe, knowing that they are accomplices in crimes like tax evasion worthy of the Guinness Book of Records?
Bettino Craxi, leader of the Italian Socialist Party - Partito Socialista Italiano (PSI); he took refuge in Hammameth in Tunisia to escape the “Mani Pulite” investigation; he died there in 2000
Bettino Craxi's maxi-kickback amounted to a mere ten billion lire. What are ten billion compared to Marlboro's 60 thousand billion, or, for that matter, compared to over a billion euro a year of lost tax income resulting from the introduction of the “Minimum Price” of cigarettes, all to the exclusive advantage of Philip Morris?
And we mustn't forget that Craxi's kickback was used to finance his political party, whereas the favors silently passed on to Philip Morris go only to benefit Big Tobacco and its shareholders, at the expense of Italian tax-paying citizens.
“Mani Pulite I – Clean Hands I”
Antonio Di Pietro, symbol personage of the "Mani Pulite" pool of magistrates; he investigated for corruption hundreds of local and national politicians. In 1996, he entered politics, and in 1998, he founded the political movement "Italia dei Valori" (Italy of Values)
Mani Pulite was a legal enquiry into corruption involving the illegal financing of political parties, and it disrupted the Italian political and financial world in the early 1990s.
The consequences of the Mani Pulite investigation contributed to the end of the so-called Prima Repubblica- First Republic - and to the disappearance of the government parties most involved in the illegal financing system: like the Christian Democrats - Democrazia Cristiana (DC) and the Socialist Party - Partito Socialista Italiano (PSI).
Many of those who, on one day were serene, proud of themselves and of their career, on the next day discovered that they were being charged with serious crimes, and many found themselves behind bars.
The picture that emerged following Mani Pulite, as far as the cigarette market was concerned, showed a political class still totally servile towards the tobacco multinationals.
>In 1991, Minister Rino Formica (PSI) took Marlboro cigarettes off the Italian market, saying, “Philip Morris must stop thinking that Italy is a country of fools”
While far back in 1991, Ministers Scotti (DC) and Formica (PSI), in open conflict with Philip Morris, swept Marlboros, the most smuggled cigarettes, from the Italian market (the measure lasted only for a few months), after Mani Pulite, that swept away both Scotti and Formica, the music changed completely.
In today's Second Republic, Philip Morris has centred all its targets: it has imposed its price policy and its marketing policy, it has obstructed the competition of other brands, and it has been exonerated from paying taxes.
More info
- Italy – 37,5 billion dollars lost
- The complete interview with Del Gizzo – The secessionist newspaper “La Padania”
- Antonio Di Pietro – Official website
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