English
Italiano Woodcock "Coglione"?
Twenty Thousand Euro, Yes. Fifteen Million, No…
“Coglione”: is a very vulgar term, today commonly used in Italy, recently also in the political field. The expression is not easy to translate into English. “Coglione” generally indicates a rather stupid, easily deceived person.
Last month John Henry Woodcock, judge of the Tribunal of Potenza, put behind bars, for criminal association and the exploitation of prostitution, the son of the last king of Italy, Prince Vittorio Emanuele Di Savoia, just recently allowed to return with his family to Italy after 57 years of exile.
The criminal association in which Vittorio Emanuele allegedly took part seems to have involved corruption of the State Monopolies Department (Monopoli di Stato), which, besides tobacco products, regulates gambling on the national territory. The Prince is said to have paid out twenty thousand euro to speed up the authorisation for some slot machines destined to the Casino of Campione D'Italia.
Moreover, at the incriminated gambling house, it was revealed that some customers could console themselves in the company of willing girls: it seems that there was a team of six or seven of these special attractions provided by the organisation. This spicy news naturally drew the attention of all Italians to this story.
But in Italy there are some stories that are much more serious, stories that people never hear about and that no judge ever investigates: for example, the maxi-bribe (maxi-tangente) of 1998, worth thirty billion lire (15 million euro), offered by Philip Morris to the ex-director of the State Monopolies to fix up a little question of tax evasion.
The hand-over, at the table of an open air bar, to Vittorio Emanuele of an envelope containing five thousand euro, his personal compensation for helping in the affair, was filmed by Italian 007s, who had set themselves up at the spot equipped with sophisticated telephoto lenses. And the film was shown repeatedly on all the national television networks.
Perhaps the “Fathers of our Homeland” appeared in a dream to Woodcock and inspired him in this investigation, which was followed with keen interest in every city and village of Republican Italy.
And the story became even more thrilling when piquant conversations, selected from telephone interceptions, illicitly filled the pages of newspapers: in these exchanges the protagonists, the Prince included, discussed the charges and the performances of these maidens.
Stories of Millions and of Billions
In 1995, the then director of Monopoli di Stato, Ernesto Del Gizzo, sent to the government a report on the unpaid tax revenues of Philip Morris in Italy: 60,591 billion Lire (30 billion euro) over a period of twenty years. He also reported a net profit every year of the multinational corporation of about 1.100 billion (650 million euro) coming from cigarette smuggling and earnings from products passed through the illegal market.
John Henry Woodcock, English father, Neapolitan mother, judge of the Tribunal of Potenza
But all of this, starting from the payoff – “maxi-tangente” – of 30 billion lire (15 million euro), offered to Del Gizzo in 1998 to shut everything up, incredibly has been totally forgotten.
And the most intriguing fact is that Philip Morris today continues to enjoy special favorable treatment in Italy thanks to the Minimum Price* of cigarettes… Why?
On April 10th of this year, the European Union made a move: it started up a violation procedure against Italy which stated: “the Minimum Price of cigarettes obstructs free competition and protects the interests of manufacturers and their profit margins” … and we add: at the expense of the State revenues.
In fact, if the current price of cigarettes were determined by higher taxation, cigarettes would cost the same as they do today, but the State, in a sector worth fourteen billion Euro of yearly tax revenue, would collect about 1.5 billion more. No wonder the brown envelopes in this sector are so generous.
* The “Minimum Price – Prezzo minimo”, was introduced on the pretext of safeguarding public health by inducing people to smoke less; the regulation obliges the producers of less costly cigarettes to raise their prices to a minimum sale price set by the government, in theory earning more.
But, in fact, smokers, finding cigarette prices almost all the same, tend to buy the most well known and the most advertised brands, and these are the ones that originally cost more and did not have to raise their prices. So, in the end, the Minimum Price policy brings higher profits only to Big Tobacco and both the State and the competition are worse off than before.
A cigarette manufacturer who sells at his product at lower prices only apparently encourages people to smoke more; in fact, he is providing a margin in which the State can increase its revenues simply by raising taxes.
The Super Brown Envelope – “Maxi-Tangente” – Worth Fifteen Million Euro
Here are some excerpts on tax evasion and bribery taken from a very "spicy" interview published in 2000 by the daily newspaper La Padania. The reporter was talking with the ex-director of the State Monopolies, Ernesto Del Gizzo. Mr. Del Gizzo gives us a striking inside view of what goes on in the backstage of the business of Big Tobacco:
—Dr. Del Gizzo, the Head Public Prosecutor of the Tribunal of Naples, Cordova, in 1995, asked for trial proceedings to be started against the top officials of Philip Morris accused of smuggling and tax evasion.
“That's right. But then the fourth section of the Tribunal of Naples decided to declare itself incompetent on the issue. The hot potato was passed on to Milan. The investigation has been stopped for two years, now”.
—Did you undergo pressure after that sensational exposure of yours?
“Shortly before I started the hearings in Naples, they tried to corrupt me. They wanted me to declare, during the first hearing on February 16th 1998, that I'd made a mistake. They offered me thirty billion lire (15 million euro) and promised to reinstate me in my position as managing director of the State Monopolies”.
—You had been suspended by Vincenzo Visco (the Finance Minister in the Government of Romano Prodi).
"Yes, but in July 1997, I won an appeal that annulled the suspension. But for some reason that I don't know, in spite of the immediate effectiveness of the sentence, I wasn't reinstated".
—Who conducted that corruption attempt?
“They introduced themselves as messengers of Philip Morris. I can't say whether this is true or not. That's something someone else will have to look into”.
—Was that the only attempt to try to convince you change your position?
“Minister Fantozzi (Finance Minister in the Berlusconi government) explained to me that if I continued, things wouldn't go well for me. Then his successor Visco offered me an appointment to the Council of State - Consiglio di Stato - if I'd change my attitude”. “Philip Morris was interested in taking over the Italian market. It had already done this for many years, imposing its price policies and its marketing strategies; it had limited the competition of other brands; we had to fight its advertising, the diversity of prices on the market, the production costs and the taxation compared to standard criteria, its smuggling, the exoneration from paying taxes. I fought this; I proposed measures that could have restrained Philip Morris, but the Minister wouldn't listen to me. There were probably political reasons, I don't know… I have no evidence that indicates the contrary”.
—Then you were removed from your job…
“I was dismissed from my position on February 28th 1997. The Council of Ministers adopted the decision at 12 o'clock, by 4.00 p.m. Scalfaro (then the President of the Republic) had already signed the decree, and by that evening, it was already all registered at the State Auditors' Office”.
—After the sentence of the T.A.R.*, which was in your favor, what did you do?
“I asked to be reinstated. The Minister didn't answer. I denounced him for omission of official acts; the case is now before the Tribunal of Ministers, but I've heard nothing about it. In the meantime, Visco appealed to the Council of State against the sentence of the T.A.R. The Council of State didn't have the courage to express itself and appealed to the Constitutional Court, which in turn, on July 5th passed the ball back to the Council. The issue is blocked there”.
* T.A.R. : Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale — Regional Administrative Court — It handles appeals, related to administrative acts, made by private citizens who consider themselves damaged in a legitimate interest.
—There were a lot of people who didn't do their duty?
“I don't know. Some people may not have done their duty, but that doesn't necessarily mean they were corrupted. I remember one central director who said to my secretary: But does Del Gizzo really think he can fight Philip Morris? A magistrate told me the same thing at the Tribunal of Ministers. I answered him: When you prosecute a crime, do you worry about whether the criminal is David or Goliath?”.
—What are you expecting now from this story?
“Nothing. I'm just waiting. Four years have passed; I've been given a little pension; I‘ve had no assignments. The latest nitwit Managing Director has been given jobs worth 400 to 500 million a year; for me nothing. I've been denied the chance to be received by the President of the nation that I served for 25 years as managing director and 15 years as financial advisor to the European Community. I've been pensioned off. If I had gone to the Council of State, where the smugglers wanted me, I could have continued my service until the age of 72; I'm 69 now, time is passing… But then there is an important fact we should remember”.
—What's that?
“Every year that passes, the statute of limitations wipes out one year of tax evasion. If we keep on waiting like this,…”.
The Uncompromising Mastiffs – “Mastini Irriducibili”
At first sight, John Henry Woodcock, judge of the Tribunal of Potenza (he has been called “The Earthquake of Potenza” – “Il Terremoto di Potenza”), English father, Neapolitan mother, considered in the law court field an “Uncompromising Mastiff”, would appear to be exactly the right sort of person to take on Big Tobacco and its army of “lecca-culo” (arse-lickers).
Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia
Woodcock has conducted many clamorous investigations besides the one that led to the arrest of Prince Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia. In a previous investigation, he indicted Simeon II of Saxony Coburgo Gotha, Vittorio Emanuelès cousin of the same age and ex-premier of Bulgaria.
His inquiry into oil bribery – “Tangenti del Petrolio”, of May last year involved top level politicians. But even more striking was his work in the case known as «Vip-Gate», which in December 2003 led to the indictment of 78 people including a number of politicians, two ministers, and personages of show business and journalism, along with officials of ministries, municipalities and public administrations.
More recently, in 2004, he led another enquiry called “Iene 2” (Hyenas 2), on the ties between criminals, politicians and businesses in the handling of work contracts. This was another political earthquake, with 52 arrests.
In the past Judge Woodcock wanted to lock-up, among others, the singer Tony Renis, winner of an edition of the Sanremo Festival and the manager of the Renault Racing Team Flavio Briatore, ex-fiancé of top model Naomi Campbell.
And some years ago, he publicly protested against the decision of the Preliminary investigation Judge - Giudice delle Indagini Preliminari (GIP) – who denied him the restrictive measures he had asked for, and he appealed to the Court of Review – Tribunale del Riesame.
Evidently, the “Earthquake of Potenza” is a judge who doesn't give up, who allows no one to sway him. There are many like him in Italy, resolute, determined, fearless and subject only to the Law…
Vittorio Emanuele, Yes; Philip Morris, No
While John Henry Woodcock was investigating the State Monopolies, corrupted by Vittorio Emanuele with twenty thousand euro and while the 007s filmed the handover of the reward of five thousand euro to the son of the ex-King of Italy, no one wondered how many hefty brown envelopes, with how many millions of euro each, Philip Morris may have handed over to its collaborators over the years.
How could the poor, naive Prince Vittorio Emanuele draw the fervent attention of all of Italy to his misdeeds while the serious crimes of Big Tobacco have always been totally ignored? There is nothing that states that Italian laws should provide special treatment for the bosses of Philip Morris. Yet, it looks like Big Tobacco has put its “pizzo” — protection money — on every pack of cigarettes sold on the national territory!
We were hoping that someone might take advantage of this event, starting from the State Monopolies, to turn the tobacco market in Italy (a business worth fourteen billion euro a year in tax revenues) inside out like a dirty sock, a market that has become an exclusive hunting grounds of Philip Morris.
No Comments