The South Tyrolean confirmed his innocence.
Trent. The Bolzano tax advisor Heinz Peter Hager, who is considered the “right-hand man” of the Tyrolean businessman René Benko in Italy, applied for release from house arrest before a preliminary investigation judge in Trent on Thursday. His lawyer Carlo Bertacchi said after a quick two-and-a-half-hour interrogation that he had “provided detailed explanations of his position and commented on all the allegations made against him.”
“My client has maintained his innocence and denied the criminal behavior accused of him,” Bertacchi added. The lawyer says that the application for release from house arrest is now being examined by the judge. The latter reserved the right to give an answer within the required technical deadline.
Leader of a mafia-like criminal organization
Hager is one of eight people who have been under house arrest since last week in the wake of extensive investigations that also concern Benko. The Trent public prosecutor's office suspects Benko of being “the leader of a mafia-like criminal organization” created with the aim of obtaining concessions and permits in order to make unjustified profits, according to the investigation files.
Benko acted at the head of the criminal organization with the help of the Bolzano tax advisor Hager and the entrepreneur Paolo Signoretti from the city of Rovereto, according to the Trentino public prosecutor's office. Hager is also CEO of the Laura Private Foundation, named after Benko's daughter. (APA)
