Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Friday reiterated calls to identify who was behind the actions of the finance police officer who allegedly snooped on politicians and celebrities while in service at the National Anti-mafia Prosecutor's Department.
"I do not believe that a non-commissioned finance police officer was the coordinator of this entire snooping operation," Tajanitold Mattino 5.
"He may have been used by someone who gave him orders. We need to identify the cupola: was it a person, a group, and for whatpurposes?"
he added.
"Pasquale Striano worked in close contact with the NationalAnti-mafia Prosecutor's Department, with the former ProsecutorCafiero de Raho, he conducted numerous investigations for him," continued Tajani of the finance police officer at the center of the probe by prosecutors in Perugia.
"We need to understand who gave him the orders and for what purposes sensitive information was used.
"Was (the information) perhaps also intended to be a gift to the press, or could it have been used by foreign services," concluded the minister.
The case has become a political issue, in part because many of the public figures snooped on are on the right of the political spectrum, with the victims demanding to know if Straiano was following orders from above.
The finance police officer is alleged to have illegally accessed the data of figures including Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, Business Minister Adolfo Urso, Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida, Labor Minister Marina Elvira Calderone, Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara, SilvioBerlusconi's former partner and MP Marta Fascina, ex-premiersGiuseppe Conte (and his partner Olivia Paladino) and MatteoRenzi, rapper and TV personality Fedez, soccer great CristianoRonaldo, Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri, Confindustriabusiness group chief Carlo Bonomi and League leader MatteoSalvini's girlfriend Francesca Verdini.
He allegedly did this via abuse of the so-called 'SOS' system, which enables officials to rummage through the information stored on databases of individuals if the authorities receive a report of a suspect financial operation by them.
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