House arrest for René Benko's “right hand man” Heinz Peter Hage in Italian

The Bolzano tax advisor and confidant of the fallen Signa founder René Benko, Heinz Peter Hager, must remain under house arrest. This comes after extensive investigations by the Trent public prosecutor's office became known. The Trent Freedom Court confirmed on Thursday the house arrest for six of the seven accused as part of the extensive investigation by the anti-mafia public prosecutor's office.

Signa founder René Benko.Image: Keystone

However, it also came to the conclusion that the aggravating circumstance of mafia-like methods did not exist in relation to the alleged criminal organization, Italian media reported. However, the court did not shake the criminal organization's record in relation to individual crimes.

Objection to house arrest

Six defendants had appealed against the house arrest. The measure for Hager, a Trentino entrepreneur, two South Tyrolean architects, the former senator and mayor of Dro, Vittorio Fravezzi, and an official from the city of Bolzano, remains intact. The presumption of innocence applied to all those affected.

The measure of house arrest was only converted into an obligation to stay in Bolzano for a South Tyrolean journalist. When assessing the cases individually, the judges did not recognize the aggravating circumstance of the mafia-like approach.

The lawyers of some of the accused have already announced that they will appeal to the Court of Cassation in Rome, the third and final instance. From the beginning, they aimed to overturn the mafia accusation, which would prevail in criminal proceedings if the sentence was convicted. (sda/awp)

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