Alitalia bankruptcy trial: Montezemolo, Colaninno and 12 others remanded for trial

The preliminary hearing judge of Civitavecchia, Francesco Filocamo, has remanded for trial 14 defendants and the civilly liable Etihad Airways as part of proceedings for fraudulent bankruptcy and other corporate offenses against the former directors and auditors (in the two-year period 2014-2016) of Alitalia, which was declared insolvent in 2017 and admitted to extraordinary administration proceedings. Among them are Luca Cordero di Montezemolo and Roberto Colaninno. The trial will be held before the collegial court in Civitavecchia, with the first hearing set for May 18 next year.

The current extraordinary commissioners of Alitalia, Giuseppe Leogrande, Daniele Santosuosso and Gabriele Fava, defended by professor lawyer Roberto Borgogno, are civil plaintiffs in the trial to protect the creditors of the former flag carrier, in order to obtain recognition of damages resulting from the conduct that, according to the prosecution argued in court by prosecutor Mirco Piloni, allegedly caused Alitalia’s collapse. Etihad Airways’ co-responsibility call is based in particular on the accusatory assumption – which will precisely have to be verified during the trial – that the Emirates airline, despite being a minority shareholder of Alitalia (with 49 percent of the capital), continuously and effectively exercised on the latter a decisive influence on its management and control, such as to determine its most relevant choices.