Italy’s Supreme Court Overturns Conviction of Two Prosecutors
Italy’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, on Thursday acquitted two Milan prosecutors who had been accused of failing to disclose documents that could have strengthened the defense of Italian energy giant Eni in a high-profile international corruption case linked to Nigeria’s OPL 245 oil block. The ruling declared that “the offence does not exist,” according to Reuters, thereby overturning an earlier conviction from October 2024.
The prosecutors, Fabio De Pasquale and Sergio Spadaro, were originally convicted in 2024 by a court in Brescia, northern Italy, which handed down an eight-month suspended sentence. That court found them guilty of refusing to perform a duty by withholding documents that could have assisted the defense of Eni and Shell, which were eventually acquitted in the main corruption trial in March 2021.
Background of the OPL 245 Malabu Deal
The legal saga stems from the acquisition of OPL 245, a Nigerian offshore oil block, in a deal valued at about $1.3 billion. Prosecutors had alleged that executives of Eni and Shell involved in the Malabu deal knew that much of the $1.1 billion deposited into an escrow account controlled by the Nigerian government would be disbursed as bribes to Nigerian officials and intermediaries. Both oil companies consistently denied any wrongdoing before their eventual acquittal by a Milan court in March 2021, which was widely described as the oil industry’s largest corruption trial.
In Nigeria, former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Mohammed Adoke, who brokered the deal in 2011, was acquitted in April 2024 of charges related to the Malabu saga. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had accused Adoke of fraudulently benefiting from the deal, but the court cleared him due to the EFCC’s failure to provide supporting evidence.
Prosecutors’ Conduct Under Scrutiny
The case against De Pasquale and Spadaro centered on allegations that they failed to file documents considered potentially favorable to the defense during the OPL 245 proceedings. The Milan court that acquitted Eni and Shell in 2021 had criticized the prosecution for not including a video recorded by a former external lawyer for Eni among the trial documents, which it deemed relevant to the case.
During the appeal proceedings in Brescia, Spadaro rejected the allegations, insisting that “there was no refusal, there was no omission” and that the prosecutors had acted “according to conscience and the law.” The investigation into the prosecutors began about five years ago.
Reversal of Conviction
The Court of Cassation’s ruling on Thursday reverses the October 2024 judgment by the Brescia court, which had upheld the eight-month prison sentence. The prosecution’s lawyer, Massimo Di Noia, expressed relief after the verdict, stating: “My colleague Fabio Federico and I are truly happy. This ruling brings justice after many years of suffering.” He added that the prosecutor general before the Court of Cassation had also requested a full acquittal.
Under Italy’s judicial system, the Brescia court has jurisdiction over cases involving judges and prosecutors serving in the neighboring city of Milan. The acquittal brings to a close a legal dispute that emerged from the prosecution of Eni, Shell, and several individuals over the OPL 245 deal.
