Rome, Feb 2 (IANS/AKI) A yacht owned by Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, where he had trysts with his mistress Clara Petacci, was among millions of euros of assets impounded from an Italian businessman accused of large-scale tax evasion.
The yacht, originally named Konigin II, was in 1935 given to Mussolini who renamed it ‘La Fiamma Nera’ (The Black Flame).
He sank the vessel in 1943 to prevent it from falling into enemy hands but after World War II the boat was raised by an Italian count, who restored it and renamed it ‘Serenella’.
The yacht was among the 28 million euros worth of assets seized by finance police agents on Monday from an unnamed businessman suspected of links to a mafia-style crime gang accused of infiltrating Rome’s city council and creaming off millions of euros of public funds.
Among the other assets seized are 32 plots of land and 75 properties, some of which had been rented to Eriches 29, a company run by one of the organised crime gang’s alleged ringleaders, Salvatore Buzzi.
–IANS/AKI
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