Giuseppe Ciarrapico

Biography

Ciarrapico was born in Rome, but grew up in Ciociaria. A supporter of Fascism in his youth, he was the printer for the manifestoes of the Italian neo-Fascist party, MSI, in his printing plant at Cassino. His publishing house also released revisionist books and pamphlets. Later in his life became nearer to Giulio Andreotti's right-wing current within Democrazia Cristiana (then Italy's major centre party).

Ciarrapico was also the owner of the large mineral water plants at Fiuggi, as well as of a series of private hospitals in Rome, of the aerotaxi company Air Capitol and of the Roman restaurant Casina Valadier. His holding Italfin '80, under which his properties were collected, went bankrupt in the early 1990s: after being prosecuted for bankruptcy in 1993, Ciarrapico was forced to abandon the presidency of Rome's football club AS Roma, which he had acquired in April 1991. Ciarrapico was trialled and sentenced to 4.5 years of imprisonment, later reduced to 3 years. He was also involved in the Samif-Italsanità healthcare scandal, after which he was imprisoned at Regina Coeli on 21 March 1993; in the same year he was again accused and imprisoned for illegal financing of political parties. He was also sentenced 5.5 years (later reduced to 4.5) in the trial for the Banco Ambrosiano bankrupt.

In 1997 he founded a newspaper, Oggi Sicilia, which was closed in 2000. His chain of local newspaper also included Ciociaria Oggi, Latina Oggi and Nuovo Oggi Molise, but his publishing company, after undergoing financial problems, was sold in 2012.

In 2010, when he was a senator for Silvio Berlusconi's party, part of his properties were confiscated by the Guardia di Finanza due to Ciarrapico's illegal acquisition of state contributions for a total of 20 million euros in 2002-2007.