In a country with no memory, recalling a story that begins in July 2008 risks being a mere stylistic exercise. And yet that is where the devastation of San Marino’s banking system begins — starting with Cassa di Risparmio, the most important credit institution on the Titano.
In that July 18 years ago, an armored van carrying 2.6 million euros, withdrawn from the Bank of Italy and bound for San Marino, was stopped by police in Forlì. That cargo, according to prosecutors Fabio Di Vizio and Marco Forte, was the proceeds of money laundering and tax evasion by Italian citizens holding current accounts in the Republic. The investigation was named “Varano” and led to the arrest of 5 of the 40 people under investigation, including the top management of Cassa di Risparmio. Footage of the night-time arrests was broadcast exclusively by the Rai program “Report,” which devoted several episodes to the Delta group affair.
On 24 January 2014, as part of Operation Varano, 28 individuals and three legal entities were sent to trial. The charges were extremely serious: criminal association aimed at money laundering and illegal banking activity, false communications sent to the Bank of Italy, and obstruction of the supervisory authority. It looked like a mega-trial. The Delta group was considered the “Italian arm” of Cassa di Risparmio di San Marino in the alleged criminal activity.
Everything dissolved 17 years later, with no Report cameras around to tell the ending. The earthquake that struck the Romagna-San Marino banking system closed with a dismissal of the case. The Forlì court decided this at the request of the public prosecutor’s office itself: “There is no basis to bring criminal proceedings or request the indictment of those under investigation.”
As early as 2008, Italy’s Court of Cassation had expressed serious doubts about whether the crime of money laundering actually existed. Yet, after a long gestation, the Forlì prosecutor’s office nonetheless decided to send the defendants to trial — a decision that in December 2021 was sensationally rejected by the court because, thirteen years on, the charges against the defendants were still not clearly defined. As if that were not enough, the Forlì prosecutor’s office then waited another three years before requesting the dismissal of the case against all defendants “because the fact does not constitute a crime.”
Will anyone pay for this incredible judicial ordeal? No. As long as the clause exempting magistrates from liability for their interpretation of the law or their assessment of facts and evidence remains in force, it will be impossible to hold them accountable for their mistakes.
That is the chronicle of events. Meanwhile, the Delta group, placed under special administration, went bankrupt, wiping out a thousand jobs and 700 million euros that Cassa di Risparmio di San Marino had invested in it. According to the Secretary of State for Finance, Marco Gatti, the Bank suffered direct damages of 880 million euros; it has since become entirely state-owned. On top of that comes the 61-million-euro penalty imposed on Cassa di Risparmio by Italy’s Revenue Agency, as well as the matter of roughly 300 million euros in tax credits.
Delta deserves a separate reflection. Back when San Marino was wealthy, deposits at Cassa di Risparmio were enormous and largely idle. Chairman Mario Fantini — himself under investigation, and who died in 2011 — was a first-rate manager. To put all that money to work, he invested it in Delta, a consumer micro-lending group that was thriving and that kept generating income even during the special administration. With hindsight, Fantini’s mistake, if anything, was failing to diversify investments. That is why Delta’s collapse dragged Cassa di Risparmio down with it.
And then, if you’ll allow the irony, San Marino’s political class did the rest, appointing “saviors” to lead Cassa di Risparmio and the Central Bank — scars we still carry to this day.
Sonia Tura
Journalist, former head of the central newsroom at San Marino RTV and former chair of the Authority for Information Guarantees
