It looks like a surreal story but instead this is what happened to a customer of Unicredit bank in San Martino Buonalbergo, in the province of Verona. The customer, who has struggled for more than 7 years with every legal action possible, but by only pure chance, a few months ago, by requesting the documentation of his case from his attorney, came into possession of documents proving all the sins of Unicredit , possible test instruments, concealed important admissions about large sums withheld.
Mr. Remigio Tuppini, the name of the administrator of Tierre, the goldsmith company involved in this incredible story in June 2005 dared to request the reimbursement of illegal compound interest applied to the company’s current account. Then in March 2006, he again requested a refund through a lawyer but the only answer he received from Unicredit was a withdrawal of credit lines and a forced closure in their banking relationship. Evidently, the headquarters of the Bank is kept informed about the actual state of this account, and produced a recalculation. In April 2006, Unicredit responded by saying “the correctness of the checks carried out and that there was not any excess over the threshold of the usury rate, beyond which is committing an offense.” Only in August 2012 when Tuppini exhausted from a situation that lead to nothing, he decided to ask his lawyer all the documents and to seek advice elsewhere.
In the documentation he received from his lawyer he unexpectedly found recalculations of the current account products by Unicredit, dated 1/12/2006, where you encounter words: “We communicate the result of the recalculation of the current account, without compound interest and at the current legal rate … difference due is: Lire 10,948,101 of pure compound interest; Lire 9,132,076 commissions/ expenses not due; 92,845,596 lire as rates change. Total in Lire112,926,773 to be repaid. “
Do you understand? The Bank knew that they had wrongfully retained money but this document does not reach the customer, perhaps in the hope of finding a loophole through their talented lawyers. More proof is that as well as the document there is a fax from Unicredits legal team to the former lawyer of Mr Tuppini from July 2009 who refrained from showing it to his then client. And while Mr. Tuppini fought for justice regularly by filing criminal charges with the Court of Verona which were as regulary dismissed by the Court’s judges (all this because the base such charges on misleading circulars they receive from the Bank of Italy rather than make inquiries on the banks and apply the Law), in civil court nothing was to no way to face an exhausting process when the nessecary evidence was removed from the file. To make it all worse, once the documents were found the judge refused to admit them to evidence due to the late submission.
Now Tuppini has given the President of ConFedercontribuenti of Padua, Mr.. Belluco, his case and appointed him as his consell, and Mr Bellucco has attempted a conciliatory approach with Unicredit but to no avail. In the meantime, new complaints have been filed, against the lawyers implicated in the case and the bank itself. It ‘s about time that the investigators control the false accounting records, as reported on the account statements of the company are, at this point we can say, figures of fantasy.
If it is true that the law is equal for all we’ll see. Of course we will not let this case out of our sights. It ‘a scandal that has shut down all Italian company with a good chance of success, led to despair and hunger of the families, but it has most affected the elderly Mr. Tuppini, his chance in life and his business, they were taken away with an eviction order, rapidly issued by a Judge of the Court of Verona, along with the equipment he had built with only his genius, and silver process waste … for disposal in a landfill!
Daniela Russo