Telecom Italia executive suspended after private corruption probe

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By Marco Carta and Elvira Pollina

ROME (Reuters) – Telecom Italia (TIM) suspended and replaced its chief procurement on Wednesday after his office was searched as part of an investigation into alleged private corruption.

In a search warrant seen by Reuters, Rome prosecutors alleged that Simone De Rose received, “in the context of a corrupt relationship between private individuals”, 50,000 euros ($53,875) from an NTT Data Italia manager.

After a board meeting, TIM said the company was “an uninvolved and injured party in the affair”, announced that De Rose had been suspended, and replaced with the head of the compliance department, Giampaolo Leone.

In its statement, the former national phone monopoly reiterated an offer of “absolute cooperation with the investigating authorities.”

De Rose did not respond to Reuters’ calls and messages seeking a comment. Being investigated does not imply guilt and does not mean formal charges will follow.

NTT Data confirmed one of its employees was under investigation while the company itself was not directly involved in the probe. It expressed its readiness to fully cooperate with Italian authorities.

Earlier, Rome prosecutors said in a statement they had requested searches of the offices and homes of two people who worked for TIM and for the Italian subsidiary of Japan’s NTT Data, NTT Data Italia, as part of preliminary investigations.

Milan-listed shares in TIM ended down 2.7% on Wednesday lagging a slightly negative Italian blue chip index, with traders citing the reported police searches.

($1 = 0.9281 euros)