Italy: Suolo e Salute concerning the operation "Gatto con gli Stivali”

Following the seizure of a large amount of products falsely claiming to be organic, undertaken by the Guardia di Finanza Tax Police of Verona, in an operation called “Gatto con gli Stivali” (The Booted Cat), Suolo e Salute s.r.l. deems it is necessary to state the following:

• The matter concerns business transactions that occurred from 2007 to 2010 and products that are not harmful to public health.
• Suolo e Salute s.r.l. is not affected by the investigation, but it is a victim of the events.  None of the companies concerned by the investigation are under its control: some have never been and others have, but have not been under the Suolo e Salute control system for some time.
• Mr. Michele Grossi and Mr. Stefano Spadini, who have been taken into custody, have had no relations with this Control Body since September 2010, when they were asked to leave following internal control inspections which highlighted misconduct by the aforementioned, not in line with company procedures. Furthermore Mr. Michele Grossi was removed from his post as Regional Director of the Marche region in July 2010.
• The self-assessment capacity shown by the system and structures of Suolo e Salute s.r.l. has permitted to isolate the deviant phenomenon, consisting of fraudulent misconduct by Mr. Grossi and Mr. Spadini, bringing to light events and circumstances over and above those already discovered in July 2010, by the investigating authority.
• Its survey capacities have permitted Suolo e Salute s.r.l., during the investigation that led to the operation called “The Booted Cat”, to fully collaborate with the authorities and the Guardia di Finanza Tax Police of Verona by furnishing data and documents.
• Right from the time when the facts became known (July 2010), stricter and more effective corrective action and self-assessment procedures were implemented.
• The internal investigation and the one conducted by the Court of Verona have proven that Suolo e Salute srl is not implicated in the fraudulent misconduct of two disloyal collaborators whose unlawful activity has remained limited in the past (between 2007 and July 2010) and concerns only those companies under investigation; while the control and certification system run by Suolo e Salute srl has proven to be reliable overall, in the past and at present.  Suolo e Salute has not, not even for one day, forfeited its own structure and reliability, guaranteed by a professional, honest and committed staff, at the service of many supervised operators, food chains and the organic world in general.
• Mr. Michele Grossi and Mr Stefano Spadini are only two of those taken into custody, but the presence of other five people subject to precautionary measures and the notification of crimes of association reveal that the dimension of the investigation “The Booted Cat” is more articulate and wide compared to the involved people that, at the time of the deeds, fell under the strict control system of Suolo e Salute s.r.l.

Nonetheless Suolo e Salute s.r.l. considers itself to be the injured party in this matter and it is able to prove this in court hearings.  A lawyer has already been appointed in order to bring a civil action against the aforesaid Mr. Grossi and Mr. Spadini and against anyone else who has, by means of their criminal misconduct, damaged the control and certification system run by Suolo e Salute srl. Augusto Mentuccia, Chairman Suolo e Salute srl

Suolo e Salute