Ernesto’s ex-wife “Ernie” Colicci beats the Russian widow – Corriere.it

The opening chapter of this story opens with the childish music of an ice cream van being driven around the streets of London and the realization of an Italian immigrant’s dream. The final one opens with the reading of a will and ends with a legal battle between the widow (Russian) and the first wife (English) of Ernie Colicci, the ice cream tycoon made in the UK who died of Covid in 2019 at the age of only 66 . Up for grabs is an inheritance worth £4.75 million. To win, we anticipate it, was Josephine, the English ex-wife.

The Italian immigrant

It all began in 1982, when an Ernesto Colicci who was not yet thirty years old left Italy for England with the plan of selling ice cream to Londoners. He hardly reaches British soil before he meets Josephine. The woman believes in Ernesto’s dream, who in the meantime has become Ernie, and together they buy the aforementioned ice cream van. Ernie knows how to do it and soon the vans become two. Ernie and Josephine, who have gotten married in the meantime, find themselves supplying ice cream at the country’s biggest events and being appreciated for the Italian quality of the product. At the end of the 1990s, the Colicci fleet numbered more than 20 vans. But the real turning point is given by an event in Hyde Park, where Ernie’s ice cream is so appreciated that the municipal administration offers the Colicci to occupy one of the fixed positions reserved for sellers within the park. And the success, which extends from ice cream to pastries, coffee and beer. Today, ECSI Ltd has over 30 fixed outlets in London’s most visited parks, including kiosks, restaurants and vintage ice cream vans.

The children in the company

Meanwhile, Ernie and Josephine had two children, Rob Colicci, 39, and Rosanna Colicci, 36, both in roles within the family business. Rob, who is not only rich but also handsome, married soap opera actress Scarlett Bowman. Ernie also keeps fit and before the age of 60 falls in love with the Russian Nora Grinberg, whom he marries in 2014, three years after his divorce from Josephine. Ernie’s fairy tale, however, destined to end too soon, victim of the Coronavirus pandemic. After Ernie’s death, which occurred during the first wave of Covid, in 2019, the will drawn up in April 2017 was opened. Although the Colicci brothers already own a 10% share of the family business and Rob is a director, and Josephine owns 40%, the entire fortune being left to Mrs. Grinberg and Ernie’s newborn daughter by her. The will is accompanied by a letter from Colicci senior to the children of his first marriage: “Dear ones, I have already given you enough money when I was alive. Now you are adults and independent and you don’t need anything else from me.” Needless to say, Josephine, Rob and Rosanna didn’t take it well.

Victory in court

Thus, the first lady Colicci, who is now 59 years old, together with her two children, took her ex-husband’s widow to court last March, claiming that the £1.6 million stake in the ice cream company in possession of Josephine should have remained with the first family and therefore go entirely to Rob and Rosanna. According to Josephine and her children, there was an agreement stipulated in 2016, therefore a year before the drafting of the will, in which it was clearly stated that the 40% stake in ECSI Ltd was to remain tied up and, finally, be transferred to Rob and Rosanna. The High Court in London finally agreed with them. Judge Mark Anderson ruled that the 2016 settlement was still valid at the time of Ernie’s death. Josephine and her children are therefore entitled to all the ice cream and almost 5 million pounds.