Banker Profumo faces trial in UniCredit tax fraud case | WPN World People News

Alessandro Profumo, the former CEO of Italian bank UniCredit, and 19 others were indicted Tuesday on corporate tax fraud charges by a Milan judge and will now stand trial, slated to start on October 1, officials said.

The indictment alleges that UniCredit used an Italian subsidiary of Barclays to reduce its tax liability through a complex financial investment plan dubbed "Brontos" that transformed interest into tax deductible dividends to deprive deprived tax authorities of 245 million euros ($304 million).

Profumo, who resigned from UniCredit in September 2010 after Libyan investors increased their stake in the bank, stands accused of having authorised the tax evasion operation.

"I await a public judgment confidently and impatiently as I am certain of the correctness of all my activities," said Profumo, who currently heads world's oldest bank Banca Monti dei Paschi di Siena, in a statement.

"This will also put an end to the inevitable reputational damage that I am suffering, however unjustly," said Profumo, who is credited with having turned UniCredit into an international banking giant through multiple takeovers during his 13 year tenure.

Among those facing trial are 17 present or former managers from Unicredit and three from London-based Barclays bank, which prepared the transactions.

In a statement UniCredit said it was "confident that the trial will demonstrate that the bank and its employees acted properly, respecting the law."

La Repubblica daily alleged that other Italian banks including Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Banca Popolare di Milano and Banco Popolare carried out similar operations between 2004 and 2009 to dodge one billion euros in taxes.

Last October, the Milan court had impounded 245 million euros, representing the profits from the Brontos plan in 2007 and 2008, from Unicredit, but has since released those funds.

Source: Europe News.Net