GIP of the Court of Bolzano: acquittal of an entrepreneur in a complex criminal trial for crimes against public administration and corporate criminal law

The acquittal of the entrepreneur in the district of Bolzano

The criminal proceedings defined by the Court of Bolzano – Office of the Judge for the Preliminary Hearing, with a judgment issued pursuant to Article 425 of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure, concerned an investigation of particular investigative complexity in the context of crimes against public administration and corporate criminal law, characterized by a plurality of charges, the involvement of numerous subjects, and the presence of various business realities operating in the economic sector affected by the allegations.

The trial involved 27 individual defendants and four important companies operating at a national level, included in the context of the economic activities under investigation and considered, according to the prosecution's approach, part of the entrepreneurial and relational dynamics subject to criminal assessment.

In the proceedings, one of the defendants was assisted by Avv. A.F.C., a member of the Legal Aid Italia team, a professional firm based in Milan specializing in the defense of entrepreneurs, administrators, and companies involved in corporate criminal law proceedings, as well as in complex investigations and trials concerning crimes against public administration, corporate crimes, and administrative liability of entities pursuant to Legislative Decree 231/2001.

The accusatory framework: plurality of charges and alleged corrupt system

The accusatory framework developed by the Public Prosecutor's Office hypothesized the existence of an articulated system of relationships between private individuals, companies operating in the economic sector concerned, and public officials, considered – according to the prosecution's perspective – aimed at influencing administrative decisions and procedures connected to the management of economic activities and the assignment of works.

The proceedings are therefore placed in the context of complex criminal trials concerning corporate criminal law, in which judicial ascertainment requires the reconstruction of articulated entrepreneurial dynamics, corporate relationships, and economic-professional relationships between the various subjects involved.

In such proceedings, criminal charges frequently intertwine with the analysis of corporate structures, contractual relationships, and economic flows, making a particularly in-depth evaluation of the conduct attributed to individual defendants necessary.

The main types of crime

Among the main types of crime contested in the proceedings were:

• Criminal association (Art. 416 c.p.): According to the prosecution's hypothesis, the illicit activity would have been organized through an associative structure among several subjects, aimed at the coordinated management of illicit relationships with public officials.
• Corruption for the exercise of the function (Art. 318 c.p.): The prosecution hypothesized the payment of economic benefits or other advantages in order to influence the administrative activity of public officials in the context of administrative proceedings and decisions connected to economic activity.
• Corruption for acts contrary to official duties (Art. 319 c.p.): In some allegations, the Public Prosecutor's Office hypothesized that certain economic advantages were aimed at the adoption of acts contrary to the institutional duties of the public official.
• Undue inducement to give or promise utility (Art. 319-quater c.p.): Among the allegations were also hypotheses of undue pressure exerted on economic operators in order to obtain economic benefits.
• Extortion (Art. 629 c.p.): The accusatory framework also included allegations attributable to the crime of extortion, with reference to alleged requests for economic benefits through forms of pressure or coercion.

The role of the companies involved and the possible liability of entities

The proceedings assume particular importance in the context of corporate criminal law, as the investigation also concerned the company and other entities operating in the economic relationships subject to dispute, with significant implications for the liability of entities.

In proceedings of this nature, the discipline of administrative liability of legal persons provided for by Legislative Decree 8 June 2001, n. 231, assumes particular relevance, which allows for the attribution of autonomous liability to the entity when certain crimes — including, in particular, crimes against public administration — are committed in the interest or to the advantage of the company by subjects who hold representative, administrative, or management functions, or by persons subject to their supervision.

Defensive analysis in proceedings characterized by such profiles therefore requires a particularly in-depth reconstruction of the organizational structure and operational dynamics of the companies involved, with specific regard to:

1. The organizational structure and corporate governance systems;
2. The relationships between administrators, managers, and collaborators;
3. The reconstruction of economic flows and corporate relationships;
4. The eventual adoption and effective implementation of organization, management, and control models pursuant to Legislative Decree 231/2001.

Criminal defense in corporate criminal law proceedings

Criminal proceedings involving entrepreneurs, administrators, and companies are frequently characterized by a high level of investigative and evidentiary complexity, determined by the need to reconstruct corporate structures, economic relationships, and financial flows, as well as to analyze the role of the various subjects involved in the entrepreneurial dynamics subject to assessment.

In such contexts, technical defense requires highly specialized skills in the field of corporate criminal law, with particular regard to:

• Corporate crimes;
• Crimes against public administration;
• Administrative liability of entities pursuant to Legislative Decree 231/2001;
• Complex criminal proceedings against entrepreneurs and companies.

The Legal Aid Italia firm, based in Milan, provides legal assistance to entrepreneurs, managers, and companies involved in Public Prosecutor's investigations and complex criminal proceedings, guaranteeing qualified technical defense from the earliest stages of preliminary investigations up to the subsequent stages of judgment before the Courts and Courts of Appeal.

The experience gained in defense in matters of corporate criminal law, corporate crimes, tax crimes, liability ex Legislative Decree 231/2001, and crimes against public administration allows the firm to deal with proceedings characterized by a plurality of defendants, articulated accusatory structures, and complex economic-corporate dynamics, ensuring a rigorous, strategic, and highly specialized technical defense.