UNFAIR COMPETITION Stealing “patents” from the

UNFAIR COMPETITION
Stealing “patents” from the Aureli family
Six former Aetna group employees condemned.
A stiff bill to pay
The companies that filed civil suit sued for 10 million
Euro.In the meantime, the judge ordered a writ of
execution for 520 thousand Euro.
RIMINI. All condemned for unfair competition and
free industry disturbance the six former partners and
former employees of the Aetna group Spa industrial
group, headed by Alfredo Aureli's family in Rimini
(Scm partners). The plaintiffs, in addition to Aetna, its
German brand Aetna Deutschland and Robopac spa,
owned by Alfredo Aureli and children Enrico and
Valentina.
The accused were found guilty of having fraudulently
misappropriated employees, information and documents
that belonged to the Aetna group's technical and sales
know-how (substantially, industrial espionage), to the
benefit of the competitor Atlanta Stretch (founded by
Angelo Forni, one of the condemned) where the accused
are currently employed in various positions.
The
sentences range from a minimum of one year to a
maximum of one year and six months. Upon attorney
Paolo Gengarelli request, the judge sentenced: for
Giovanni Berardi and Maurizio Galassi, one year and six
months imprisonment and a fine of 800 Euro; for Angelo
Forni, one year and four months imprisonments and a fine
of 600 Euro; for Valeriano Bruni, one year and four
months imprisonment and a fine of 400 Euro; for Thomas
Manfred Weinmann and Robert Jean Barillaro, one year
imprisonment and a fine of 400 Euro. Berardi and
Galassi, in addition to the crimes of unfair competition,
were found guilty of fraud for having misappropriated
funds from a former Aetna group company’s coffers. All
this occurred through a mechanism that included the
payment of false commissions (on purchases from its
suppliers) that were not actually due and that were
collected by a company from San Marino, Mediatech,
administrated by the same Maurizio Galassi. Aetna
Group companies that filed civil suit sued for 10 million
Euro in damages. Compensation will be decided in civil
court but, in the meantime, the judge ordered a writ of
execution for 520 thousand Euro (500 thousand Euro for
the crime of unfair competition and disruption and 20
thousand for fraud) that the accused will have to pay the
plaintiffs. If they fail to pay, their assets may be frozen.
The events date back to the period between 2005 and
2006 when the accused implemented a targeted action,
according to the accusation, to damage Aetna group that
operates in the production and sale of packaging
machinery.