Santanchè, “Open to bankruptcy”: all the shadows of the Ki Group and Visibilia case

According to the reportage of the television program «Report» (signed by Giorgio Mottola and entitled «Open to Fallimento» (recalling the recent campaign carried out by the Italian tourism minister Open to Meraviglia) which will force Daniela Snatnché to report in the classroom tomorrow, it seems that the minister did not really have the impressive entrepreneurial career he boasted of.The investigation focuses on the management of the companies Ki Group (purchased in 2006 together with ex-partner Canio Mazzaro) and Visibilia, in which Santanchè was involved.

Doubts about Ki Group

The Ki Group, active in the organic food sector, was personally managed by the minister until 2022. At the same time, the Visibilia advertising company was sold a few days after her appointment to the Meloni government. According to what was reported by «Report», between 2018 and 2019, the Ki Group company would have accumulated debts towards suppliers for an amount of 8 million euros. This financial situation has created many difficulties in approving the budgets.

The Ki Group srl

Just to get out of this «cul de sac» a new company was created, Ki Group srl, (same name but different corporate configuration) which incorporated the profitable sectors of the parent company, leaving aside the accumulated debts. However, these debts would have caused many difficulties for various suppliers, including the AT&B company, which was forced to lease the Verde Bio brand to the minister’s company at a very convenient price.

Furthermore, some Ki Group employees are still waiting to receive severance indemnities (TFR). In some cases, we are talking about sums that reach tens of thousands of euros. Furthermore, according to «Report», some former employees complained of a lack of transparency in the asset management of the Ki Group, through which an apartment in Milan was allegedly paid for at an annual cost of 100,000 euros. The accommodation had been registered as a ‘representative office’.

Debts and Visibilia Editore
Minister Santanchè founded Visibilia Editore in the mid-1990s, a communication company listed on the stock exchange, of which she was the main shareholder until mid-October and president until January 2022. Also in this case, the former employees recounted details not exactly reassuring about the management of the company. One of them, under anonymity, reported that a colleague would have been placed on zero-hour layoffs, but in reality she would have continued to work since she herself had not been informed of the measure.

Visibilia’s corporate debts have come to the attention of the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office. Last November, the Milanese prosecutors waived the request for judicial liquidation presented against Visibilia, as the company had paid off its debt to the State for approximately 1.4 million euros.

In the past, the media had reported reports that Santanchè was being investigated, but the minister defended herself on several occasions. «Visibilia is a company that I founded, but it was sold. There’s an unpaid bill and the new partners will take care of it. There are no crimes, there is no hypothesis of a crime », she had declared.

Ranucci: «Report confirms its version»
«Four days after the broadcast of the Report investigation by Giorgio Mottola, Minister Santanchè considered it appropriate to deny the reported facts, without however going into details. The minister also announced a lawsuit. In the investigation, some employees had testified that they were left without salaries, without severance pay. Another employee, on the other hand, reported having worked during the layoff period, paid by the state, for companies that referred to Santanchè. Report from you confirms the veracity of all transmitted content ». The host of the show, Siegfried Ranucci, wrote on Facebook.

“These are documented facts, found and subject to investigation by the judiciary – he continues -. For non-payment of severance pay to Ki Group employees, proceedings are underway before the bankruptcy court of Milan. Another proceeding concerns the Visibilia employee forced to work during the period of zero-hour layoffs charged to the State, and is underway at the Court of Rome. The same employee was audited by Consob. A further criminal proceeding on Visibilia is in progress at the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office. An official request for an interview was sent to the minister on these aspects, to which we have not received a response. Another request has been sent to the current Ki Group admins, complete with a specific and detailed list of questions. But Ki Group also preferred not to release its version of events».