Espionage Plot Against Italian Politicians, Journalists, and Elite Athletes Uncovered

The Italian Finance Guard’s Lieutenant, Pasquale Striano, is currently under investigation by the Perugia Prosecutor’s Office. The charges against him are grave, as he is accused of being at the centre of an extensive espionage plot. The victims of this plot include a wide range of individuals from various spheres, ranging from politicians and journalists to personalities and football stars.

According to reports by the Italian newspaper, ‘La Repubblica’, Striano allegedly infiltrated several databases to retrieve personal information. These databases contained data related to tax records, anti-mafia investigations, and money laundering cases. The information allegedly accessed by Striano covered a broad spectrum of high-profile individuals. This includes five serving ministers, multiple secretaries of state, former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Marta Fascina – the widow of Silvio Berlusconi, Irene Pivetti – the partner of Giuseppe Conte, the president of the Italian Football Federation – Gabriele Gravina, and even the famed footballer Cristiano Ronaldo.

The allegations against Striano, who is an employee of the National Anti-Mafia Directorate, suggest a particular interest in the Juventus football club in Turin. This interest manifested in his alleged collection of data in 2021 from the club’s then president, Andrea Agnelli, and its star player, Cristiano Ronaldo.

The charges against Striano are severe. He is accused of unauthorized access to these files on thousands of occasions without any ongoing investigation that could justify this access. His alleged actions, which reportedly date back to 2018, involve the abusive access to a computer system, falsification and disclosure of confidential information.

The investigation into these allegations commenced approximately a year ago. This followed a complaint lodged by the Minister of Defense, Guido Crosetto, who raised concerns over the publication of a document related to his tax status in an Italian newspaper.

Further allegations suggest Striano accessed documentation related to the Minister of Business, Adolfo Urso, and the Minister of Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida. Interestingly, Lollobrigida is the brother-in-law of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Striano is also accused of gaining access to information belonging to the Undersecretary of the Presidency, Giovanbattista Fazzolari. All these individuals are associated with the far-right Brothers of Italy party. Additionally, Striano is suspected to have accessed information related to the former undersecretary of the Northern League party and two officials from the Fuerza Italia party.