Italy police arrest four over alleged illegal database access

MILAN: Italian police have placed four people under house arrest as part of a probe into alleged illegal access to state databases, and are investigating dozens, including Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio, son of the late billionaire founder of Luxottica, a source said on Sunday.

A lawyer for Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio said he was “eagerly awaiting the completion of preliminary investigations to be able to prove he has nothing to do with the events in question and that charges laid against him have no basis.

“He seems to be rather a victim given initial allegations and the negative outcome of the search conducted,” lawyer Maria Emanuela Mascalchi said in a statement. The alleged database access was carried out by a private intelligence business run by a former policeman, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.