|
James Debono
An aide to the Prince of Savoy has claimed the Casinò di Venezia at the Vittoriosa waterfront offered free accommodation and junket flights to notorious gamblers who were banned from most European casinos.
Rocco Migliardi, a close collaborator of Italy’s Vittorio Emmanuele, was testifying before an inquiring judge in Potenza last June, after the Savoy’s scion was charged for rigging casino games and recruiting prostitutes for clients in a casino in Campione d’Italia, in Switzerland.
The allegations have been strongly denied by Casinò di Venezia director Armando Favaretto.
Italian investigators claim the casino at Campione d’Italia had rigged slot machines, ran call girls for clients, and have pointed towards the involvement of the Sicilian mafia.
Sicilian entrepreneur Migliardi, together with Venetian entrepreneur Ugo Bonazza, were allegedly involved in procuring the rigged slot machine in Vittorio Emanuele’s enclave of sin. The prince is currently under house arrest.
But in his testimony, Migliardi has shifted the blame by throwing mud against other Italian casinos. Migliardi claims that junketeer Pino Malandrino, a fellow Sicilian from Messina, had a key role in procuring notorious clients for the casino in Vittoriosa.
Speaking to the Italian regional newspaper il Gazzettino di Venezia, Armando Favaretto strongly denied the charges, saying he only knew Malandrino by name. He also claims Malandrino procures clients for another casino in Malta, the Oracle.
Favaretto insisted the Vittoriosa casino attracts clients who frequent the best European casinos.
“We have clients who come from Montecarlo. Surely we are not the rubbish dump of other casinos,” Favaretto told the Italian newspaper.
The former director of the Casinò di Venezia, Gianni Corradino also denies any knowledge of Malandrino, claiming he did everything possible to rid the casino of notorious junketeers. Corradino had been removed from Malta in 2001 after being accused of rigging slot machines.
Corradino had denied these charges and responded with his own accusations against Favaretto and the administrative council of the casino.
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt
|
