Agricultural Policies Minister Gianni Alemanno could face charges of receiving illegal party financing from a company controlled by Parmalat.
A panel in the House on Wednesday gave a green light to a judicial probe into the affair, stripping Alemanno of his parliamentary immunity. The minister, a leading member of the rightwing National Alliance party, asked for his immunity to be lifted last month, saying that he wanted prosecutors to exonerate him quickly.
Prosecutors suspect some 85,000 euros in contributions were given to Alemanno's party via a political magazine, Area, which is close to National Alliance. Investigators believe that the money, which was used to buy advertising space, may have been in recognition of Alemanno's green light in 2002 to a new Parmalat product.
The allegations against Alemanno stem from statements given to investigators by Parmalat founder and ex-CEO CalistoTanzi, who said he had given Alemanno the 85,000 euros as a "token of gratitude".
Parmalat began to financially implode in December 2003 and went bankrupt a few months later in Europe's biggest corporate collapse.
