Esiodo – the joint stock company of lawyers that gravitates around Coldiretti’s magic circle and grinds millions in revenue – could possibly incur one or more disciplinary offences. #VanghePulite.
The National Forensic Council (CNF), in its ruling no. 219 of 27 May 2024, has in fact ruled that hosting law firms in professional associations constitutes a violation of the Code of Ethics of the Forensic profession. (1)
The activities carried out by the partners and the composition of the board of statutory auditors of the aforementioned company also give rise to further doubts, which appear worthy of investigation and verification by the competent professional associations.
1) Prohibition to establish law firms in professional associations
The ruling of the National Bar Council 219/24 definitively clarifies that the establishment of law firms in professional associations: – damages the image of the legal profession, since
-creates a potential conflict of interest as well as -facilitates client hoarding, even irrespective of the existence of direct economic benefits.
The case that gave rise to the proceedings concerned a law firm that shared offices with an association dedicated to road traffic damage compensation. The CNF considered the disciplinary sanction of censure to be appropriate. (1)
2) ESIODO S.t.a.p.a., Coldiretti’s law firm. The office
The joint stock company Esiodo S.t.a.p.a. has its registered office in Rome, Via Nazionale 89/A. The entire building, according to rumours, allegedly belongs to Germina Campus S.p.A. (of which Coldiretti is the sole shareholder) and has a secondary entrance at Via Nazionale 271.
Combination, both civic buildings are home to a number of realities that belong to the Coldiretti galaxy. In addition to Germina Campus and its Agritel and SicurAgro, Fondazione Campagna Amica, UE Coop. As well as SIMEC SpA, the phoenix resurrected after the collapse of Credit Agri Italia, (3) and various others.
2.1) Esiodo, the shareholders
The Esiodo S.t.a.p.a. shares are distributed as follows:
– Germina Campus S.p.A., 33%. Ger.Cam., as we have seen, is Coldiretti’s ‘ “ safe”’, which is its sole shareholder, with a share capital of € 15.492 million. President, vice-president and managing director of Ger.Cam. are Ettore Prandini, Vincenzo Gesmundo and Raffaele Grandolini. Who are also – respectively – president, secretary general and head of the Administration, Finance and General Affairs Service (manager) of Coldiretti; (2)
– Raffaele Grandolini, 26%. also known as the ‘King Midas’ of Coldiretti, Grandolini sits on the boards of 25 companies gravitating in his galaxy; (4)
– Fabrizio Di Marzio, 25%. Former member of the Court of Cassation, now head of Coldiretti’s Legal and Corporate Service, board member of the Società Consortile Consorzi Agrari S.C.p.A. and of Esiodo S.t.a.p.A. and, at the same time, a court-appointed lawyer (5.6);
– Giuseppina Ivone, 4%.Giuseppina Ivone, 4%. Former member of the ‘band of liquidators’ of Acqua Marcia S.p.A., together with Fabrizio Di Marzio, as well as president of the Board of Directors of Consorzi Agrari d’Italia alias Federconsorzi 2, from 12 March 2021 to 31 December 2022; (7)
– Marco Moretti, 4%. Long-standing lawyer of Coldiretti’s CAF and CAA, as well as chairman of the respective supervisory bodies pursuant to Legislative Decree 231/01. (8) As well as chairman of the board of directors of Megg Invest S.r.l. based in Dozza (BO), € 11.5 million turnover with no employees apparently.
2.2) Esiodo, board of directors and board of statutory auditors
The board of directors (BoD) of Esiodo S.t.a.p.A. is composed of the chairman Raffaele Grandolini, as well as the directors Fabrizio Di Marzio, Giuseppina Ivone, Marco Moretti and most recently Vincenzo Gesmundo, who was appointed on 26 June 2024.
The Esiodo’s board of auditors members are instead:
– Benedetta Ficco, substitute statutory auditor. In addition to being auditor and alternate auditor of seven companies belonging to the Coldiretti power system, Benedetta Ficco is reported to work in Coldiretti’s Administration, Finance and General Affairs Service, under Raffaele Grandolini;
– Fabio Marella, president as well as auditor, alternate auditor or liquidator of 19 other companies in the large Coldiretti galaxy. Fabio Marella would also appear to work in Coldiretti’s Administration, Finance and General Affairs Department, under Raffaele Grandolini;
– Stefania Marongiu. She is the mayor of Esiodo where Raffaele Grandolini chairs the board of directors and, according to reports yet to be confirmed, an employee of Coldiretti’s Finance Administration and General Affairs Service, under the responsibility of Raffaele Grandolini himself;
– Monica Rispoli, deputy mayor, already known as the Kālī goddess of supervision. (9) Among other things, she is the mayor of the latest conquest of CAI SpA alias Federconsorzi 2, the Consorzio Agrario di Siena, and in turn an employee of Raffaele Grandolini in Coldiretti’s Finance Administration and General Affairs Service;
– Gianluca Turchetta. Auditor of, among others, the CAA (Agricultural Assistance Centre) Coldiretti S.r.l., the General Agency Agrifides S.r.l., the Proximity Centre S.r.l. (Campagna Amica markets).
2.3) Which is the independence of mayors?
Article 2399 of the Italian Civil Code, ‘Causes of ineligibility and disqualification’, states that ‘The following may not be elected to the office of auditor and, if elected, shall forfeit their office: (…)
c) those who are linked to the company or its subsidiaries or to companies controlling it or to companies subject to joint control by an employment relationship or a continuous consultancy relationship or a relationship of paid work, or by other relationships of a financial nature that compromise their independence’. (9)
2.4) Business in full swing
Esiodo’s business is booming. € 4.663 million turnover, in 2023, with only three employees. Already at the beginning, it is recalled, Esiodo had already billed CAI SpA as much as €2 million for a few months of consultancy. (10) The managing director of Federconsorzi 2, moreover, was and is the sole proprietorship of Gianluca Lelli, the former dauphin of Vincenzo Gesmundo.
3) Provisional Conclusions
The Esiodo affair raises certain doubts that merit analysis by both the bar association and the association of chartered accountants and accountancy experts. For the purpose of verifying the possible validity of the above-mentioned news, informally gathered from various sources, and to assess the correctness of the:
– possible location of the law firm in a building of reference for a professional association;
– participation as a relative majority shareholder in a professional company wholly owned by a professional association;
– enrolment in the bar association by employees or presidents of a commercial company, (11) as the case may be;
– independence of the auditors Ficco, Marella, Rispoli and Marongiu. #VanghePulite
Dario Dongo
Footnote
(1) Consiglio Nazionale Forense. Sentenza 27.5.24 n. 219 https://tinyurl.com/rpm92va6
(2) Dario Dongo. Germina Campus, la holding di Coldiretti che specula sugli agricoltori. #VanghePulite. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 13.6.21
(3) Dario Dongo. Vincenzo Gesmundo, Coldiretti e il disastro Confidi. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 22.12.21
(4) Dario Dongo. PNRR e bando sui contratti di filiera, Coldiretti ‘asso pigliatutto’. #VanghePulite. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 2.7.23
(5) Si veda il riferimento a Fabrizio Di Marzio nell’articolo ‘Venerdì 24/11 la seconda giornata del Forum Coldiretti’. Il Punto Coldiretti. 23.11.23 https://tinyurl.com/pr6jukkr
(6) Fabrizio Di Marzio, Zitiello associati studio legale https://tinyurl.com/3c85epzx
(7) Dario Dongo. Federconsorzi 2, AgriRevi, AIPO (Unaprol). Affari d’oro per il cerchio magico di Coldiretti. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 3.6.21
(8) Marco Moretti, avvocato. 24 Ore business school https://tinyurl.com/nmtdt5s2
(9) Si richiama il codice civile, articolo 2399
(10) Si veda il paragrafo ‘Federconsorzi 2, Esiodo Srl e il cerchio magico’ nel precedente articolo di Dario Dongo. Assicurazioni agevolate in agricoltura, i grandi affari del cerchio magico di Coldiretti. #VanghePulite. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 1.3.21
(11) Il Consiglio Nazionale Forense, con sentenza 11 ottobre 2022, n. 170, ha affermato che non ricorre una situazione di incompatibilità nel solo caso in cui l’avvocato – nel suo ruolo di presidente del CdA – «sia stato privato, per statuto sociale o per successiva deliberazione, dei poteri di gestione dell’attività commerciale attraverso la nomina di un amministratore delegato» (così anche Cassazione, Sezioni Unite, 37/2007)
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
