Selling a house 14 times: a historic palace in Milan and its porter with capitals

TRUFFASI! THE HISTORICAL HISTORICAL TOWER INMILAN has "sold" the house 14 times: WITH DIFFERENT PAYMENTS, ACCOUNTABILITY AND CHAINS FOR MORE THAN A YEARAG/strong>

Mario Frigerio, a 59-year-old porter with a diploma, a turbulent past and previous convictions who worked at Casa Fontana, the historic palace behind the Indro Montanelli Gardens where journalist and writer Dino Buzzati lived, "sold" the same apartment with garage 14 times. During that time he made more than 180,000 euros until he was arrested for fraud.

He fell for famous restaurateurs, professionals, a journalist and a Milanese nobleman while he squandered money shopping on Via della Spiga and bolelaya gambling at casinos. As is so often the case, the fraud succeeds because the victims, attracted by the prospect of a terrific deal, think they are clever, let their guard down and fall for the "theater" in front of their "killers" and lose the clarity that should stop them before they reach for their wallet.

In this case, however, as Guido Salvini writes in the forcible confinement order that brought Frigerio to prison, during his 10 years as a porter in a building on Viale Vittorio Veneto 24, the man "earned the trust and respect of the residents," so much so that the condominium administrator described him as "an honest man and a serious worker. "

There was never any doubt that the owner of the apartment, a manager of a well-known fashion firm always on business trips, and the owner of the garage, a woman living in the United States, had instructed this man with attractive manners to spread the rumor among the neighbors before anyone else, each of whom Frigerio, according to the investigation of prosecutor Maura Ripamonti, part of the department led by Deputy Eugene Fusco, asked to keep the transaction secret so that it would not be stolen. He acted cautiously and tactfully because the owners did not want it to be known that they needed the money, he said.

The fact that it was a "terrific deal" is indicated by the price: 248 thousand euros for a 65 square meter apartment worth at least 400 thousand and 22 thousand for a 17 meter garage, which in the Porta Venezia area ofMilan costs two or four times as much.

When the transaction date approached, there was always an excuse to reschedule the notary appointment, and it seems someone was even able to get their money back. The owner of the apartment was the first to report the crime when he noticed that there were rumors that someone was selling it.

The fraudster appeared on Maurizio Constanzo's show ten years ago to tell (as he did in a letter to the Corriere della Sera) the story (true?) of his turbulent life, which began with a law degree in Italy, 12 years of work in the US and the loss of his job due to the crisis that forced him to return to Italy and "get his hand in the business". An appearance on television led him to work as a gatekeeper on Viale Vittorio Veneto. Now he's lost that, too.