Sonatrach scandal: Milan court rejects release of the “black box”

Court of Appeal in Milan, northern Italy, rejected a request for interim release on the official of the company “Saipem”, who is imprisoned over the scandal of bribes in the National Company of Hydrocarbons Sonatrach.

Milan Court decided to find a final solution in the demand on the 16th of August, at a time the company’s former official in Algeria revealed on the details of paying bribes to Sonatrach officials.

Milan court decided to postpone its decision on the provisional release of Pietro Varoni, former engineering and construction official in Saipam, which is the password in the bribes that were paid by Italians to Sonatrach officials to win large contracts worth $ 11 billion within 3 years. 

Pietro Varoni’s lawyer, partner of Farid Bedjaoui in vineyards and wine industry near Naples, quoted the investigating magistrate Fabio De Pasquale, as saying that the presence of Pietro Varoni, who is in jail, that this the only way to protect the investigation in the case of bribes worth $197 million.

Alessandro Bistokini, Pietro Varoni’s lawyer,asked for the provisional release of his client or at least give him the right to benefit from the obligatory residence in his house, due to the absence of fears from the escape of Pietro Varoni from Italy, and being interrogated willingly three times, as he testified before investigators voluntarily.

According to the details of the new leaks of the scandal, that the bribes were pumped to Algerian officials by creating and handling fake institutions, which are operating under Saipam projects in Algeria, and this is recognized by former director of Saipam Algeria, Toulio Orsi, during interrogation by the General Prosecutor at the Court of Milan.