The saga of Federconsorzi 2, aka Consorzi Agrari d'Italia (CAI) SpA, is enriched by a cinematic appeal thanks to AgriRevi SpA and Coldiretti. 'The dinner of the cretins' (The idiot dinner) by Francis Veber, 1998.
It is the bourgeois parody of a group of friends, rich and bored, who organize the so-called 'dinner of idiots' every week. From time to time the participants invite a character to mock. However, an unexpected event is enough to bring out the betrayals and misdeeds of the entire gang. And events precipitate.
Preamble
the 23.1.21 GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade) publish the article 'Agricultural Consortia of Italy, Bonifiche Ferraresi and Filiera Agricola Italiana SpA, the vase is full'. (1) An update on the misdeeds of AgriRevi SpA, one startup of the audit, set up on 3.12.19 by a circle of Coldiretti executives together with a senior magistrate (Fabrizio Di Marzio, former councilor of the Court of Cassation) and the director of AGEA (General Agency for Payments in Agriculture) Gabriele Papa Pagliardini. (2)
Conflicts of interest and the multiple violations of the rules safeguarding the independence and objectivity of the auditors (legislative decree 39/2010, articles 10, 10-bis, 10-ter) had led the then president of AgriRevi SpA to belatedly withdraw from position received at Consorzi Agrari d'Italia Real Estate Srl. Combination, in the week following the GIFT article mentioned above, Monica Rispoli - the president of AgriRevi SpA, who took over two weeks earlier from the incompatible Raffaele Grandolini, joined her time discharged.
The protagonists
The protagonists of this reality show, which is only one episode in the saga of Federconsorzi 2 - Consorzi Agrari d'Italia (CAI) SpA, (3) there are five. The first is the director of AGEA and shareholder of AgriRevi SpA Gabriele Papa Pagliardini, already the subject of attention for possible conflicts of interest, corruption and abuse of office by 14 senators of the Italian Republic and 4 deputies of the European Parliament (2,4, XNUMX).
The other protagonists instead they belong to the magic circle of Coldiretti. While waiting to unravel at least part of the hitherto hidden relations of the dome of Palazzo Rospigliosi with the rooms of power, Raffaele Grandolini, Monica Rispoli, Antonio Cepparulo and Fabio Marella are on stage today. Their curriculum vitae deserve particular attention in the light of article 2399 of the civil code (Causes of ineligibility and forfeiture).
'They cannot be elected to the office of statutory auditor and, if elected, they lose their office: (...)
c) those who are related to the company or companies controlled by it or to the companies that control it or to those subject to common control by an employment relationship or by an ongoing relationship of consultancy or remunerated work, or by other relationships of a financial nature that compromise its independence '. (civil code, article 2399). (5)
Raffaele Grandolini
Raffaele Grandolini he is in charge of Administration, Finance and General Affairs of the Coldiretti National Confederation, as well as his attorney general of the same association. What's more, he holds the following positions:
- CEO of the Fiscal Assistance Center (CAF) Coldiretti Srl, a company affiliated with the Ministry of Economy and Finance,
- Chief Executive Officer of the Agricultural Assistance Center (CAA) Coldiretti Srl, a company affiliated with AGEA (General Agency for Payments in Agriculture),
- CEO of Germina Campus SpA, a real estate company of the Coldiretti National Confederation, 44% shareholder of Filiera Agricola Italiana SpA. (6)
Federconsorzi, courses and historical appeals
The property in Rome, via XXIV Maggio 43, was taken over by Germina Campus SpA from the Federconsorzi bankruptcy. The prestigious Palazzo Rospigliosi is now the seat, ironically, of the CAI (Consorzi Agrari d'Italia) SpA, alias Federconsorzi 2. Besides CAF Coldiretti Srl, CAE Coldiretti Srl, Germina Campus SpA. But also the companies Agritel Srl and Bluarancio SpA, the Campagna Amica Producers Consortium and the Service System Consortium.
The historical site of Federconsorzi then hosts Italian Agricultural Supply Chain (FAI) SpA, the Cattolica Agrifides Srl General Agency, the startup innovative Tokenfarm Srl. As well as the mutual fund for the promotion and development of cooperation SpA and the Italian Riso SpA sector. And the ubiquitous plenipotentiary Raffaele Grandolini is from time to time the managing director, president or mayor of each of them. To follow the other assignments
Raffaele Grandolini, technological services
King Midas and Mandrake are amateurs in the presence of Raffaele Grandolini, whose roles extend to:
- chairman of the Board of Directors of Agritel Srl, the telephone company of the Coldiretti National Confederation that buys telephone utilities from Telecom to resell (at increased prices) to Coldiretti shareholders and employees,
- CEO of Enteus Srl, an IT company of the Coldiretti National Confederation, which buys on the market from software e hardware to be resold to another IT company of the same Coldiretti National Confederation, Bluarancio SpA,
- CEO of Bluarancio SpA, the second IT company of the Coldiretti National Confederation. Bluarancio buys from software e hardware by Enteus Srl (of Coldiretti) to resell them to the Consorzio Sistema Servizi (of Coldiretti itself),
- sole director of Tokenfarm Srl, startup innovative owned by Bluarancio,
- CEO of the Consorzio Sistema Servizi (CSS), a company that - according to court rumors - would re-invoice the provincial and regional Coldiretti Federations about 30 million euros in annual costs to cover the opulence of Palazzo Rospigliosi.
Raffaele Grandolini, Friendly Campaign and Italian Agricultural Supply Chain
La long hand by Raffaele Grandolini also touches on the sale and resale of agricultural products. He is in fact:
- chairman of the Board of Directors of the Campagna Amica Producers Consortium, which buys agricultural products from farmers to resell them to a company it holds (12%), Filiera Agricola Italiana SpA,
- CEO of Filiera Agricola Italiana (FAI) SpA, the second company of agricultural products, which purchases from its shareholder Consorzio Produttori di Campagna Amica commodities which are then destined for the markets of Campagna Amica, to consumers. (6)
Raffaele Grandolini. Insurance and credit, conflicts of interest
The tentacles di Raffaele Grandolini also control insurance and credit, thanks to the assignments of:
- sole director of the Cattolica Agrifides Srl General Agency, whose president Paolo Bedoni - former president of Coldiretti - is under investigation by the Verona Public Prosecutor for the illicit influence on the assembly in fomenting the risky investment in H-Farm (7)
- president of Simec SpA, a consulting and credit brokerage company of the Coldiretti National Confederation.
Conflicts of interest they forced Raffaele Grandolini to resign from the role of chairman of the Board of AgriRevi SPA One year late but in an extreme hurry, after the opening of Pandora's box on Federconsorzi 2. (3) Coldiretti's CFO goes further anyway. In addition to managing most of the companies controlled by it, he is statutory auditor in other companies controlled by the same. With all due respect to the civil code (art. 2399) and to legislative decree 39/10, it is among other things:
- chairman of the board of statutory auditors of the mutual fund for the promotion and development of cooperation SpA, the safe of the Central Cooperative UeCoop,
- statutory auditor of Filiera Italiana Riso SpA.
Monica Rispoli
Follower of Grandolini for a few days at the presidency of AgriRevi SpA, Monica Rispoli is an employee of the Consorzio Sistema Servizi where he himself is the CEO. And it follows in its footsteps with a series of conflicts of interest that the law sanctions and the CONSOB ignores. She is in fact:
- chairman of the board of statutory auditors of the Consorzio Produttori di Campagna Amica SCpA, whose managing director is his employer Raffaele Grandolini,
- mayor of Filiera Agricola Italiana SpA, whose managing director is once again Mr. Grandolini,
- mayor of Filiera Italiana Riso SpA, this time in the company of his employer. (8)
Antonio Cepparulo
Antonio Cepparulo is another sample of conflicts of interest, in open violation of the civil code as well as the Code of Conduct of the Board of Statutory Auditors adopted by the National Council of Chartered Accountants and Accounting Experts (CNDEC). (9) Cepparulo is in fact:
- mayor of the Coldiretti National Confederation, where Raffaele Grandolini is responsible for Administration, Finance and General Affairs, as well as Attorney General,
- mayor of CAF Coldiretti Srl, of which Grandolini is the managing director,
- chairman of the board of statutory auditors of CAA Coldiretti Srl, where Raffaele Grandolini is also CEO,
- chairman of the board of statutory auditors of AgriRevi SpA, where Raffaele Grandolini was chairman, before his recent resignation,
- chairman of the board of statutory auditors of Agri Centro Nord and Agri Centro Sud, formerly CreditAgri Scpa The farmers' bank, where Coldiretti's general secretary Vincenzo Gesmundo was Chairman before giving his place to liquidator Enrico Leccisi (another shareholder of AgriRevi SpA, ed) . And Raffaele Grandolini, ca va sans dire, was administrator,
- Chairman of the Board of Statutory Auditors of UNAPROL SCpA, the National Consortium of Olive Growers, based at the Coldiretti National Conf., funded by AGEA,
- mayor of Elaion Srl, the company of UNAPROL SCpA, same office.
Fabio Marella
Fabio Marella is the new right hand of Raffaele Grandolini, of which he in turn follows the traces:
- statutory auditor of Bluarancio SpA, where Grandolini is the chief executive officer,
- mayor of the Consorzio Sistema Servizi, of which Grandolini is CEO,
- mayor of Simec SpA, President Raffele Grandolini,
- mayor of the Consortium of Campagna Amica Producers, Raffaele Grandolini president,
- mayor of Filiera Agricola Italiana SpA, Grandolini AD,
- mayor of the Mutual Fund for the Promotion and Development of Cooperation, Raffaele Grandolini, Chairman of the Board of Statutory Auditors,
- mayor of Agri Centro Nord and Agri Centro Sud, formerly CreditAgri Scpa, where Antonio Cepparulo is chairman of the board of statutory auditors,
- icing on the cake, shareholder of AgriRevi SpA.
The dinner of the cretins
Italy ranks 52 out of 180 in the 2020 global ranking by Perceived Corruption Index, second Transparency International. (10) Above the Bel Paese, among others, Oman and Rwanda, the Dominican Republic, Botswana, Chile. But the actual levels of corruption could exceed those perceived.
The dinner of the cretins it's gargantuan, and it's just an episode of reality show which pollutes politics and public administration, the market and competition. There mala gestio of public resources and of Italian farmers is resolved in personal advantages for the magic circle of Coldiretti and his acolytes among giga-salaries, emoluments and shareholdings.
An unmissable film. The seats in the front row are reserved for the judiciary, the Guardia di Finanza and the supervisory authorities. The balconies, on the other hand, are reserved for the Antitrust and CONSOB, which seem not to have seen a single one trailer. We also await the reviews of the journalists, before it closes everything.
Dario Dongo
Cover image: graphic processing on frame of the film 'La cena dei cretini' (Le dîner de cons)
Footnotes
(1) Dario Dongo. Agricultural Consortia of Italy, Bonifiche Ferraresi and Filiera Agricola Italiana SpA, the vase is full. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 23.1.21/XNUMX/XNUMX, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/idee/consorzi-agrari-d-italia-bonifiche-ferraresi-e-filiera-agricola-italiana-spa-il-vaso-è-colmo
(2) Dario Dongo. Coldiretti, Federconsorzi 2 and the director of AGEA. Question to the Senate. GIFTS (Great Italian Food Trade). 8.1.21/XNUMX/XNUMX, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/mercati/coldiretti-federconsorzi-2-e-il-direttore-di-agea-interrogazione-al-senato
(3) Dario Dongo. Agricultural Consortiums of Italy SpA, Federconsorzi 2? The poison dossier. GIFTS (Great Italian Food Trade). 1.1.21/XNUMX/XNUMX, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/mercati/consorzi-agrari-d-italia-spa-federconsorzi-2-il-dossier-dei-veleni
(4) Dario Dongo. Conflict of interest AGEA - Pagliardini - Coldiretti, questions to the European Parliament. GIFTS (Great Italian Food Trade). 30.1.21/XNUMX/XNUMX, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/conflitto-dinteressi-agea-pagliardini-coldiretti-interrogazioni-al-parlamento-europeo
(5) NB: the forfeiture of statutory auditors envisaged by the civil code in article 2399 is an ex officio action. The directors must register their termination in the register of companies within 30 days of the occurrence of the causes of forfeiture
(6) See article cited in footnote 1, last paragraph
(7) Emanuela Rossi. H-Farm case for Cattolica Assicurazioni, all the details. Startmagazine. 18.1.21, https://www.startmag.it/economia/caso-h-farm-per-cattolica/
(8) Monica Rispoli also has other positions, in the Coldiretti galaxy:
- statutory auditor of APOL Sc a rl,
- Mayor of the National Tobacco Growers Organization Italy Sc a rl,
- sole auditor of the Sardinian Olive Producers Association. Agricultural cooperative society
(9) CNDEC. Rules of conduct of the board of statutory auditors of unlisted companies. Standard 1.4 (Independence). Text updated on 12.1.21 on https://commercialisti.it/documents/20182/1236776/Norme+C.S.+non+quotate+agg.+L+Bilancio+%282021.01%29.pdf/9751061e-d226-40a3-841a-55ac40bcc577
(10) Transparency International (2021). Corruption Perceptions Index 2020. #cpi2020. ISBN: 978-3-96076-157-0. https://images.transparencycdn.org/images/2020_Report_CPI_EN.pdf
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
