(Finance) – It ended with 8 convictions and one acquittal The first degree trial for the collapse of Bio-Onthe former bioplastic unicorn collapsed in 2019 following a report by activist fund Quintessential. The sentences of 5 years and 2 months for the founder Marco Astorri and his deputy Guido Cicognani stand out. The Prosecutor’s Office had asked for 10 years for both.
The others convicted in first instance they are the former member of the Board of Directors Vittorio Folla (4 years and 4 months), the former president of the board of auditors Gianfranco Capodaglio (3 years and 8 months), the auditor of the external company Gianni Bendandi (3 years and 6 months ), the former independent councilor Gianni Lorenzoni (4 years) and the former members of the board of auditors Vittorio Agostini and Giuseppe Magni (3 years and 6 months). Acquittedinstead, the former CFO Pasquale Buonpensiere.
The defendants were accused in various capacities of bankruptcy fraudulent, improper and by distraction and attempted abusive use of credit.
In the indictment of last October 15th, the PM of Bologna had spoken of a “senseless and criminal management of the company“, which had “allowed the defendants to collect (or allow others to provide) liquidity from the investor market over time – for a total amount of approximately 40 million euros – which was burned over the years to meet current expenses”. And ” in the absence of cash generation”, the company had “resorted to bank credit, exposing themselves in significant terms also towards suppliers, ultimately generating a total liability amounting to over 60 million”.
Bio-On, a startup founded in 2007 by Astorri and Cicognani, was managed to capitalize over 1 billion on the AIM Italia market (now Euronext Growth Milan), before the attack by the activist hedge fund led by Gabriele Grego led to the collapse of the shares, the investigation by the Bologna prosecutor’s office, the elimination of the top management and then bankruptcy.
“The accusatory system proposed by the Prosecutor’s Office evidently did not hold up to the end – commented thelawyer by Astorri, Professor Tommaso Guerini – We will then have to understand what didn’t convince us about our defensive line. Once you have read the reasons, we will prepare for an appeal judgment as interesting as this process so far.”