Fini, Tugliani and a house in Monte Carlo: Berlusconi's revenge in real estate and intrigue

Filippo Ceccarelli for La Repubblica - Excerpts SOPRA reading between Berlusconi and Fini Happily or unhappily, it depends on situations and points of view, memory is selective, and today the house of Monte Carlo, Boulevard Princess Charlotte 14, is lost in a fog of murky stories and simultaneous scandals, be it Ruby and the Olgettins, the Chreck gang, the Boffo affair, the Marrazzo scam, blessed is he who today can learn any lessons from it - if only the fact that once the mud machine starts, it doesn't stop.

If it can help, it was the summer of 2010. Just two months before, the land had been fertilized by the bad deeds of his self conscious Skajol, who was noted in the chronicles as "buying without his knowledge."

Politically, Gianfranco Fini broke relations with Berlusconi in the spring: "Are you going to kick me out?". And, indeed, the proposal from the airwaves of the Grazioli Chamber reached him at the end of July. Soon after, the whole fascinating case of the Monte Carlo house was investigated to be used as revenge for Fini's rebellion and betrayal. Of this there is no doubt.

Now, as with Craxi in his time, Fini's real problem was that he had so much control over the party that he erased the distinction between what was his and what belonged to the party. So, under pressure from the relatives of his new girlfriend, Elisabetta Tulliani, with whom he was madly in love, not only did the president of the chamber and leader of Ahn take the apartment, but also - according to the accusation - he gave it to his half-brother, not exactly a saint, for extra business.

But what I would like to seriously emphasize here is that the story spread quickly and effectively because it provided the public with something all too human and accessible to everyone: a cozy 55-sq. m for relaxation and happy retirement; a place close to Italy but not too much, still tax-free, prestigious and spectacular, from 007 to Princess Grace to Caroline of Monaco; finally, an intrusive family and a greedy stepbrother to satisfy their needs for tranquility - not to mention the pretensions, typical of the powerful, for everything to end with minimal consequences.

Then, starting on the shipping map of the Berlusconian investigation, with a focus on the "furniture trail" in search of a white Scavolini kitchen of the model "Scenery", the most popular, etc., which Gianfrai and Betty had purchased from Castellucci Arredamenti at the 13th km of Aurelia, the main proof of their interest. In the chaos of forwarders and cadastral maps, the whole political world, starting with the representatives of Finiano's Futuro and Liberty party, was involved in the division of these funds, while the poor Countess's legacy turned out to be an embezzled affair for Tulliano.

Then from Aurelia, following the submarine of the Berlusconian investigations, the case moved to the Caribbean, and here, as in Ellroy's novel, counter-versus Sicilian businessmen, casinos, betting, money laundering - proving once again that when it comes to money and power, the problems are always much more complicated than they already seem.