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Former Privilege Yachts CEO arrested

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Former Privilege Yachts CEO Mario La Via has been placed under house arrest as part of the investigation into the Italian shipyard's 2015 bankruptcy. Privilege Yachts CFO Antonio Battista has also been arrested.

Those arrested are accused of tax evasion, violating anti-corruption laws and hiding information about the shipyard's actual bankruptcy to creditors.

La Via, 76, reportedly concealed the real financial situation of Privilege Yachts when he applied for a €100 million loan from Banca Popolare dell'Etruria e del Lazio. The money was to be used for the construction of Privilege One, a 126m megayacht. Construction of the vessel had been underway since 2008 with funds from several Italian banks, but stalled in 2012 after one of the main borrowers, Banca Etruria, withdrew from the consortium.

In 2014, the shipyard said it had found new sponsors for the project and intended to complete it by the end of the year, but the company went bankrupt in 2015, leaving €210 million in debt. An auction last July failed to find a buyer for Privilege Yachts.

It has also accused La Via and Antonio Batista of having misappropriated the shipyard's funds for their own needs. For example, € 320 thousand from the Privilege Yachts budget went to buy Maserati and Ferrari.

The prosecution also alleges that the company's money paid for the rent of the house of Pasqualino Monti, the head of the Civitavecchiaport administration.

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