Edition: U.S. / Global

Olivetti Firm Chief Faces New Charges In Italy Corruption

Published: October 31, 1993

Magistrates ordered the arrest today on bribery charges of Carlo De Benedetti, head of the Olivetti computer company and among the most senior and best-known Italian tycoons to be ensnared in the country's huge corruption scandal.

The industrialist, once a symbol of Italian business self-confidence and energy, was travelling outside Italy when Rome magistrates issued the arrest warrant. A spokesman for his holding company, Compagnie Industriali Riunite, said he was expected to return to the country on Tuesday.

The arrest warrant adds to the controversy swirling around Mr. De Benedetti, who is already appealing a six-year jail term on fraud charges unrelated to the newest accusations.

Mr. De Benedetti, 58 years old, has publicly acknowledged that his company paid bribes, but he has insisted that the pressure for illicit political contributions in return for government contracts was so great that he would have been forced out of business in Italy if his companies had not paid up.

His lawyer, Marco De Luca, registered surprise, saying his client had "recently shown his willingness to cooperate with the magistrates so I am puzzled as to why they should want to arrest him."

"He will present himself to the authorities as soon as possible," Mr. De Luca said.

Since February 1992, over 3,000 politicians and businessmen have been implicated in the scandal, which involved the systematic payment of billions of dollars of bribes.

Magistrates declined to give details of the new charges against Mr. De Benedetti, but news reports here said they involved bribes of at least $7 million paid to the state postal authority.

Last May, Mr. De Benedetti was placed under investigation after volunteering to investigating magistrates that companies under his control had paid bribes worth some $13 million dollars during the 1980s and early 1990s.