Other top executives at electricity utility Enel may be placed under investigation in connection to an alleged bribe paid to facilitate the sale of Enel's telecommunications company Wind, sources close to the probe said on Friday.
Eleven people have been notified so far that they are under investigation including Enel CEO Flavio Conti and Egyptian businessman Naigub Sawiris, who acquired Wind through his Weather Investment company in 2006 for 12.5 billion euros.
Also under investigation Sawiris' financial consultant Alessandro Benedetti, who received a 97-million-euro fee for brokering the deal.
Investigators suspect that part of the sum received by Benedetti was used to pay sources in Enel, perhaps even Conti, in order to allow Sawiris to present a better offer for Wind than his rival, the American private equity fund Blackstone.
Conti has denied any wrongdoing and has received the full support of the Enel board.
''I have nothing to hide and I am determined to prove that I have done nothing wrong. The sale of Wind was carried out in the full light of day,'' Conti said Thursday night.
Benedetti has also denied any wrongdoing and has offered to cooperate with investigators.
''It is my hope that this investigation can clarify any doubts. In the event that further information or details are needed I am ready, as I have said in the past, to offer my collaboration anytime, anywhere,'' Benedetti said.
Others notified on Thursday that they were under investigation included Luigi Gubitosi, Wind's CEO who also serves as chief financial officer.
In a statement issued Thursday night, Enel explained that the sale of Wind was in line with its decision to pull out of the telecommunication sector and that its sale ''was the result of a comparison of the offers presented. There was no discrimination of one offer over another and the operation respected existing regulations''.
In regard to the suspicion of corruption, the utility said it had not paid any consultancy fees aside from those from its financial and legal advisors.
Enel decided to sell Wind, Italy's number three mobile phone operator, in April 2004 after creating it seven years earlier and investing some 17 billion euros.
Wind was sold to Sawiris in an operation valued at 12.56 billion euros. This included three billion euros in cash to Enel, the assumption of Wind's debt of some seven billion euros and Enel receiving a 26.1% in Weather Investment.
