High-Level Judge Arrested in Italy Corruption Probe
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MILAN, Italy — A high-level judge under investigation in Italy’s vast corruption scandal was arrested Friday.
Diego Curto is the first judge implicated in the 17-month-old scandal, which has dragged in former premiers, scores of legislators, leading businessmen and hundreds of public officials.
Curto, 68, has denied wrongdoing. He is the acting chief judge of the Milan court and was ordered arrested by prosecutors in nearby Brescia, who took over the investigation to avoid a conflict of interest.
The investigation of the scandal, called “Tangentopoli,” or Kickback City, has been centered in Milan.
The judge has been under investigation in the huge Enimont scandal, in which the state-owned energy committee ENI teamed up with the private chemical company Montedison, owned by the Ferruzzi conglomerate.
The joint venture fell apart after two years in 1991 with the sale of Ferruzzi’s stake in the joint venture back to ENI.
Prosecutors are investigating whether Montedison and ENI executives made millions of dollars in payoffs to politicians in connection with the deal.
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