The investigation into Federico Monzino for attempted extortion against Raoul Bova has been closed

The story of the audio stolen from Raoul Bova, which exploded last summer, has reached a turning point. The Rome Prosecutor's Office has closed the investigation against the Milanese entrepreneur and PR Federico Monzino, accused of attempted extortion. According to investigators, the twenty-nine year old tried to obtain money by threatening the publication of a private conversation via chat between the actor and the model Martina Ceretti, the contents of which then effectively became public knowledge.

It all started in July last year when Bova received a message from an unknown number in which an unknown sender warned him of the risk of spreading those messages to harm him. At that point the actor decides not to give in and to report the incident.

For his lawyer, David Leggi, "the investigations have made it possible to shed light on one of the most squalid episodes of media looting by those - under investigation and otherwise - who, for money and vanity, do not hesitate to overwhelm anyone in front of them. Raoul's story - he underlines - testifies that it is right to report to the institutions and not to give in to blackmail of any kind".

For his part, Monzino at the time tried to distance himself from suspicions about the alleged blackmail linked to the diffusion of those audios, but from the investigative developments elements against him emerged. When he was interviewed, the PR specified to the investigators that he had shared with Ceretti, at least initially, the decision to hand over the audio to Corona so that "Martina could become famous". "I am not the author of the messages sent to Raoul Bova" he had assured in recent months, adding: "Fabrizio Corona is the only person to whom I forwarded the chats and audio in question".

The investigators, following Bova's complaint, acquired the contents of Monzino's cell phone and of Ceretti herself (who admitted having forwarded those files to her PR friend) by cross-referencing the dates with app transfers and conversations to shed full light on the matter. A couple of months later the twenty-nine year old was entered into the register of suspects on suspicion of the crime of attempted extortion. About a year later, the investigations have closed and we are now moving towards the trial.