Let me guess. Jeff/Andy make a donation to a certain someone. Tariffs on Italy are threatened. Case is dropped.

robtherobber 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I think that normally that may be the approach (and I'm not singling out Italy for this, it probably applies to most countries).

On this occasion, however:

> In all previous cases involving other international groups, once a settlement was reached and payment made, prosecutors closed related criminal investigations, either through plea deals or by dropping the cases.

> This time, however, Milan prosecutors did not share the tax authority's approach and decided to press ahead with their probe, leading to a request that the suspects be sent to trial.

▲

mr_00ff00 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Damn, is anyone an expert that can speak to the criminal law involved here?

It’s crazy that executives can jump around the law and not face any criminal charges, then the company picks up the bill (although I’m not ignorant thinking this isn’t usual)

I’m just curious to learn more about how often this is the case and you usually what happens with people afterward

	▲	limagnolia an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I don't know about Italian law, but in the US tax evasion is pretty difficult in many cases to prove. It is illegal in the US to deliberately defraud the IRS to evade paying taxes, it is not illegal to make a mistake, or claim a deduction you think you can claim when the IRS decides you can't, etc. So prosecutors must prove you had an intent to evade taxes you knew you owed. Because they can rarely meet that bar, criminal charges are rarely brought.
	▲	nobodyandproud 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		While I share your sentiment, perhaps its better that it remain murky to give prosecutors a chance to succeed.

▲

zoobab 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

"Tariffs on Italy are threatened. Case is dropped."

Justice is independent in most EU countries.

▲

beardyw an hour ago | parent | next [-]

But I think tariffs cannot be imposed on individual countries in the EU. At least that was how I understood the situation with Spain.

▲

cbg0 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

There's quite a few asterisks that need to be appended to "independent".

▲

gpderetta 2 hours ago | parent [-]

It is quite independent in Italy actually. The government is pushing for a constitutional amendment to help "fix" this feature. There is going to be a referendum on the change very soon.

	▲	jonathanlydall an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I have ancestral Italian Citizenship but have never lived in Italy. I am occasionally called upon by the local consulate to perform my civic duty and vote. Just this week I sent them back my ballot, now marked, for this referendum in a sealed envelope. This referendum required me to dig more deeply than usual into Italian politics before I could decide which way I wanted to vote.
	▲	N19PEDL2 an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		For reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Italian_constitutional_re...