Telecom Italia launches investigation in tax scam
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Thorough investigation has been launched by Telecom Italia into the role of one of its subsidiaries in an alleged €2bn ($2.7bn) tax evasion scam. The Italian prosecutors believe this scam to be one of the biggest in the country’s history.
The alleged €2bn fraud centers on Sparkle, Fastweb and a network of offshore groups in Panama, Luxembourg and other jurisdictions. The alleged evasion of €350m in value-added tax on the deals is also investigated by the prosecutors and Italy’s tax police.
According to Franco Bernab©, chief executive, board of Italy’s biggest telecommunications group was examining 1,600 pages of court documents relating to a sweeping tax evasion and money laundering probe involving Sparkle, its wholesale voice and broadband business, and Fastweb, another Italian telecoms group.
Swisscom starts review of allegations against Fastweb
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: An in- depth review has been started by Swisscom AG into allegations that its Italian broadband unit Fastweb SpA was embroiled in a EUR2 billion money-laundering and tax-evasion scheme. The decision has been taken as it is felt that legal repercussions could trigger goodwill write-downs and hurt its profits.
Arrest warrants against 56 people, including Fastweb’s founder Silvio Scaglia and four other former Fastweb staff has been issued by an Italian judge alleging they took part in a money laundering ring between 2003 and 2006.
It has also been alleged by the Italian prosecutors that Scaglia was part of a ring with mafia ties that used phony companies to launder money to buy jewels, cars and real estate between 2003 and 2006.
Milan shares flat at midday, Telecom Italia outperforms
MILAN (AFX) – Share prices were flat at midday as some stocks suffered from a bout of profit-taking after recent gains, but Telecom Italia outperformed on expectations of stake-building in the company, dealers said.
At 12.16 pm, the Mibtel index rose 0.02 pct to 30,014 points and the S&P/Mib dropped 0.03 pct to 39,313.
Telecom Italia added 2.32 pct to 2.29 eur. A newspaper report said the businessman Romain Zaleski has bought a small stake in the company.
It added that the Ligresti family could also be interested in investing in the company.
Pirelli rose 0.97 pct to 0.6995. The company has a controlling stake in Telecom Italia.
Fastweb fell 0.95 pct to 37.50. ABN Amro initiated the stock with a ‘buy’ recommendation and a 47 eur target price.
Tiscali dropped 2.31 pct to 2.365 after the release of its 2007-2010 business plan. The company aims to focus on its Italian and UK businesses but only expects to achieve a net profit in 2008.
Mediolanum gained 1.52 pct to 6.16 eur, but was off a high of 6.28, after CA Cheuvreux upgraded the stock to ‘outperform’ from ‘underperform’. The broker also increased its target price to 6.8 eur from 5.7.
Unipol added 1.99 pct to 2.688 after S&P said the stock will replace RAS in the S&P/Mib on Friday.
Banca Intesa rose 1.23 pct to 5.605. The bank is expected to reach an agreement today to sell assets to Credit Agricole.
Sanpaolo gained 0.61 pct to 17.77. Sanpaolo and Banca Intesa’s boards are scheduled to meet tomorrow to clear the banks’ merger.
Popolare Italiana fell 1.13 pct to 10.37. Deutsche Bank rated the stock a ‘hold’ with a 10.2 eur target price.
Mediaset dropped 0.52 pct to 8.595 after being initiated with an ‘underweight’ recommendation by HSBC. The broker has a 7.7 eur target price for Mediaset.
Alitalia dropped 2.53 pct to 0.808 after the government reportedly told unions that the airline’s results are out of control.
ASM Brescia fell 1.93 pct to 3.96 after CA Cheuvreux dropped ASM Brescia from its selected list and downgraded it to ‘underperform’. It sees the stock as ‘fully valued.’
It has a 3.9 eur target price for the stock.
‘In our view, AEM now looks like a better way to play the upcoming AEM-ASM merger,’ the French broker said.
Source- http://www.forbes.com
