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U.K. incumbent reportedly claims to be a victim of any fraud that took place.
BT has filed a criminal complaint against ex-staff at its scandal-hit Italian business.
According to Reuters on Saturday, the U.K. incumbent has accused former executives and employees, including former BT Italy CEO Gianluca Cimini, of unlawful conduct and breaking company rules. It also claims to be the victim of any fraud found to have taken place at BT Italy.
Sources cited in the report said BT has given prosecutors computer records gathered during an internal investigation conducted late last summer.
BT first disclosed the accounting scandal at its Italian arm in October 2016, when it wrote down the business by £145 million. In January, it admitted that the scandal was much bigger than first thought, leading to a much bigger writedown to the tune of £530 million.
The internal investigation found evidence of improper accounting practices, and improper sales, purchase, factoring and leasing transactions, resulting in the overstatement of BT Italy’s earnings over a number of years.
According to Reuters, BT’s criminal complaint claims Gianluca Cimini was responsible for grave violations of corporate governance rules pertaining to contracts and suppliers, and for intimidating staff.
Former COO Stefania Truzzoli is accused of manipulating results that were used to award bonuses, and of manipulating data presented during internal results presentations.
BT also claimed that former BT Italy CFO Luca Sebastiani failed to report financial irregularities to his managers and induced Giacomo Ingannamorte – an employee responsible for invoicing BT Italy – to issue fake invoices.
The complaint also accused Luca Torrigiani, who used to be in charge of government clients and other large accounts at BT Italy, of breaking rules governing the selection of suppliers, and of receiving a payment from an agent of BT Italy.
Reuters said that Ingannamorte and Torrigiani are suing BT for unfair dismissal, while Sebastiani said his sacking was unjustified.
