Lastminute.com founder detained in Swiss Covid fraud probe
The founder of successful online travel booking platform Lastminute.com has been detained by Swiss prosecutors investigating the suspected misuse of pandemic bailout funds.
Italian national Fabio Cannavale, who is CEO of the Swiss stock market listed company, and three other top executives have been remanded in custody for up to seven weeks, the company announced on SaturdayExternal link.
Such measures are usually taken if suspects are deemed a flight risk.
Lastminute.com employs 500 staff at its headquarters in Chiasso, in the southern Swiss canton of Ticino. The group is accused of fraud in relation to CHF28.5 million ($29.5 million) of emergency state funds handed to three subsidiaries to help pay the wages of staff on shortened working hours during the pandemic.
The Ticino authorities raided Lastminute.com offices earlier this week and have blocked CHF7 million of the group’s funds.
On July 20, the company saidExternal link that it “is confident of no wrongdoing concerning the matters which are subject of investigation and will support the public prosecutor’s office in its investigation.”
A number of companies are suspected of having abused financial hand-outs during the pandemic, but media describe Lastminute.com as being the largest known single case of suspected fraud.
In May, the Swiss Money Laundering Reporting Office said it had received 1,700 reports of suspicious activity related to the pandemic.
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