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CRIME

Man ‘tortures’ ex for Facebook password

A jealous lover in Catania, Sicily, has been accused of kidnapping, beating and threatening his ex-partner with a knife to obtain her Facebook password.

Man 'tortures’ ex for Facebook password
The defendant allegedly threatened his ex-partner for several hours with a knife. File photo: Franco Bouly

The alleged attacker, identified as O.R.M. in the Italian media, allegedly kidnapped his ex-partner from a bar on Saturday September 28th, forcing her to go to a nightclub.

Under threat of violence, the jealous lover then reportedly forced her to come back to his home where he threatened her for several hours with a knife and beat her in an attempt to obtain her Facebook password and mobile phone, Catania Today reported.

He is also alleged to have attempted sexual violence.

It was not until the following morning that the woman was able to return home and call police to report the crime.

According to La Stampa, it will take around two weeks for the victim to recover from her injuries.

Just a few days prior to the attack on September 26th, the woman had requested that her ex-partner be given a warning after he allegedly subjected her to psychological and physical violence, forcing her to seek medical attention.

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CRIME

Italy has most recovery fund fraud cases in EU, report finds

Italy is conducting more investigations into alleged fraud of funds from the EU post-Covid fund and has higher estimated losses than any other country, the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) said.

Italy has most recovery fund fraud cases in EU, report finds

The EPPO reportedly placed Italy under special surveillance measures following findings that 179 out of a total of 206 investigations into alleged fraud of funds through the NextGenerationEU programme were in Italy, news agency Ansa reported.

Overall, Italy also had the highest amount of estimated damage to the EU budget related to active investigations into alleged fraud and financial wrongdoing of all types, the EPPO said in its annual report published on Friday.

The findings were published after a major international police investigation into fraud of EU recovery funds on Thursday, in which police seized 600 million euros’ worth of assets, including luxury villas and supercars, in northern Italy.

The European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Facility, established to help countries bounce back from the economic blow dealt by the Covid pandemic, is worth more than 800 billion euros, financed in large part through common EU borrowing.

READ ALSO: ‘It would be a disaster’: Is Italy at risk of losing EU recovery funds?

Italy has been the largest beneficiary, awarded 194.4 billion euros through a combination of grants and loans – but there have long been warnings from law enforcement that Covid recovery funding would be targeted by organised crime groups.

2023 was reportedly the first year in which EU financial bodies had conducted audits into the use of funds under the NextGenerationEU program, of which the Recovery Fund is part.

The EPPO said that there were a total of 618 active investigations into alleged fraud cases in Italy at the end of 2023, worth 7.38 billion euros, including 5.22 billion euros from VAT fraud alone.

At the end of 2023, the EPPO had a total of 1,927 investigations open, with an overall estimated damage to the EU budget of 19.2 billion euros.

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