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Lastminute. com’s top executives, in addition to founder and CEO Fabio Cannavale and CEO Andrea Bertoli, are being held by the Swiss government as part of an investigation into whether the Amsterdam-based online company abused the Covid aid budget provided through Switzerland.
Lastminute. com said on Saturday that a Swiss court “has partially approved the pre-trial detention of 4 people, adding Fabio Cannavale (CEO) and Andrea Bertoli (COO), for up to seven weeks. “.
In Switzerland, where Lastminute. com stored, “pretrial detention” is a form of pretrial detention to prevent suspects from fleeing or interfering with an investigation.
Reuters reported on Friday that the government of Ticino, a Swiss canton, had tried to place a quintet of current and former officials from Lastminute. com “in custody” as they searched whether the company or its subsidiaries had abused the Covid aid budget allocated through Switzerland. .
Prosecutors $7 million (7 million Swiss francs) in Lastminute. com accounts, Reuters reported.
Lastminute. com said the investigation focused on possible charges of fraud, illegal welfare claim and violation of Swiss unemployment insurance law.
The existing Lastminute. com, founded as Bravofly Rumbo Group in 2004, deserves not to be with the iconic UK-based online travel firm Lastminute. com which launched in London in 1998. Texas-based Sabre sold Lastminute. com’s global operations to Bravolly. Rumbo Group in 2015, and the latter was renamed Lastminute. com.
Lastminute. com existing operates online agencies and metasearch brands, adding Lastminute. com, Volagratis, Rumbo, Bravofly, Weg. de, Jetcost, Hotelscan, Crocierissime and Fwd. Its most powerful presence is in Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, France and Germany.
Lastminute. com issued statements on the way of life of the investigation and the dismissal of the executives, but commented on the merits of the investigation.
Update: The Lastminute. com group announced on Monday that the board of directors appointed Laura Amoretti as interim chief executive officer, effective immediately, and stripped CEO Fabio Cannavale and lead executive Andrea Bertoli of all the company’s purposes for 3 months due to the Swiss investigation.
The board will launch a search for a permanent CEO.
Amoretti has held the position of Group Customer Service Director since 2019.
Chairman of the Board laurent Foata said in a statement: “Laura is a very committed and dynamic leader with a very broad vision, power and applicable experience with our group. Your contribution will be especially valuable at this stage. We look to the future to work closely with Laura in her new role, as she will lead our business at this point in our adventure towards successful expansion in space. “»
Note: This story was updated to reflect the appointment of an interim executive director.
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