Italian Justice System Efficient And Uncontroversial In Other Prominent International Cases #1

Going on right now is a trial of an alleged blackmailer’s accomplice at Pescara which is on Italy’s east coast about an hour south-east of Perugia.

In the dock is a rather strange Italian who assisted a Swiss gigolo to swindle at least six wealthy European women out of many millions. One of the women is a German divorced mother of three, Susanne Klatten (image above), who through her majority ownership of the chemical giant Altana and large stake in car manufacturer BMW is a multi-billionaire and Germany’s richest woman.

It was through her refusal to succumb to blackmail regardless of the personal embarrassment when she was shown sex shots of herself and the gigolo Helg Sgarb (image below) that the case was blown wide open. Helg Sgarb was tried in Munich in 2009 and sentenced to six years in prison.

A few days ago Susanne Klatten testified in Pescara against Ernani Barretta (image at bottom) who among other things is alleged to have done the secret filming of Ms Klatten at an exclusive spa in Germany. 

The case is going smoothly, Italian justice is looking good, and nobody connected to Barretta seems to think a hate campaign against Italian justice would do him any real good. 




Posted by Peter Quennell on 05/03/11 at 01:39 PM in

Comments

Frau Klatten deserves great credit for her courage. And, lest anyone be in any doubt about how Italian justice tends to err on the side of leniency, according to wikipedia:

“[Sgarbi]was ... sentenced to six years in jail which fell short of the nine years that the prosecution had sought. As he did not disclose the location of over 9 million Euros he received from the women he blackmailed, he cannot be released early”

So, six years in jail, and a nice bunch of cash at the end of it. If someone offered me six years in jail for 9 million euro, I would definitely think about it.

Posted by Janus on 05/03/11 at 06:11 PM | #

I agree with Janus, Mrs. Klatten has real courage. I’m glad she refused to let this heartless pretender shake her down or extort her, despite the humiliation.

This sorry Sgarbi ought to be ashamed of himself for preying on a desperately lonely divorcee like Susanne, and all those other rich women he trolled for. The disgusting Italian shutterbug who took the lamentable photos is the worse character of the two. Without his disgusting lack of morals, the crude Sgarbi’s blackmail scheme would have fizzled. I hope Italian justice throws the low caliber Baretta in the slammer for the full 6 years his Swiss gigolo friend got. These fraudsters usually get right back out and start new schemes of a similar nature. Thieves are hard to break.

I bet Mrs. Klatten will put a private eye on this Swiss fraud and follow him to the loot he stole from other pitiful women when he gets out of prison. He will go straight back to his game of fraud and con most likely.

Posted by Hopeful on 05/03/11 at 09:20 PM | #
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.

Where next:

Click here to return to The Top Of The Front Page

Or to next entry Italian Justice System Efficient And Uncontroversial In Other Prominent International Cases #2

Or to previous entry Italian Parliament Is Now Moving On A Bill To Speed Up Many Trials And Appeals