Luca Volontè (born 17 March 1966) is an Italian politician, born in

Saronno Saronno (; ) is a ''comune'' of Lombardy, Italy, in the province of Varese. It received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree in 1960. With an estimated population of inhabitants, it is the most densely populated among the big m ...

(

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

), a graduate in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from the

University of Milan The University of Milan (; ), officially abbreviated as UNIMI, or colloquially referred to as La Statale ("the State niversity), is a public university, public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Eu ...

, formerly a member of the Union of the Centre.

Political career

In 1994, Luca Volontè became in charge of the local entities in the Italian Popular Party (PPI). He followed

Rocco Buttiglione Rocco Buttiglione (; born 6 June 1948) is an Italian Union of Christian and Centre Democrats politician and an academic. Buttiglione's nomination for a post as European Commissioner with a portfolio that was to include civil liberties, resulted ...

in the split from the PPI, which led to the foundation of the CDU, where he became an organizational manager. Luca Volontè was elected to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

from the second constituency of

during the elections of 1996. He was re-elected in 2001, 2006 and 2008. From 2010 to 2013 he served as Chairman of the

parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political party, political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller politic ...

of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...

in the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...

Corruption charges, conviction and acquittals

Following investigative reports, published by the

European Stability Initiative The European Stability Initiative (ESI) is a think tank focusing on South East Europe and enlargement of the European Union. It has offices in Berlin, Brussels and Istanbul. History The ESI was founded in June 1999 in Sarajevo. Its founders, mult ...

on "

Caviar diplomacy Caviar diplomacy is a lobbying strategy of Azerbaijan, consisting of costly invitations to foreign politicians and employees of international organizations to Azerbaijan at the expense of the host country. Caviar diplomacy also includes expensive ...

", in June 2016, the

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

prosecutor's office brought charges against Luca Volontè on 2 episodes: money laundering and accepting bribes. In 2017, it was also revealed that Volontè had been involved in the Azerbaijani laundromat scandal - a complex

money-laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds into ...

scheme used to pay off European politicians in an attempt to whitewash Azerbaijan’s reputation abroad. According to the Prosecutor's Office Volontè received €2.39 million to organise support for Azerbaijani officials in the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

. Part of the money went through Volontè's

Novae Terrae Foundation The Novae Terrae Foundation (Fondazione Novae Terrae) was a far-right organization active between 2012 and 2021 which financed campaigns against abortion, LGBT rights, and "gender ideology," particularly in partnership with right-wing religious g ...

to lobbies

Iona Institute Lolek CLG, operating under the business name the Iona Institute, is an Irish, socially conservative organisation that advocates the advancement and promotion of the Christian religion and its social and moral values. It has been frequently des ...

CitizenGO CitizenGO is an ultra-conservative advocacy group founded in Madrid, Spain, in 2013 by the ultra-Catholic and far-right HazteOir organization, a similar Spanish platform that has been dedicated to the fight against "gender ideology" since 2001. ...

(he was a member of its board), the ECI Mum, Dad & Kids initiative against equal marriage and

Dignitatis Humanae Institute The Dignitatis Humanae Institute (DHI; also known as the Institute for Human Dignity ()) was a Christian right-wing think tank based in Italy that existed from 2008 to 2021. Its stated mission was to "protect and promote human dignity based on the ...

. In January 2021, Criminal Section X of the Court of Milan sentenced Luca Volontè to four years in prison for taking bribes from Azerbaijani politicians. On December 22nd, 2021 Volonté was acquitted of the accusation of money laundering, Verdict No.8364. On May 22nd of the same year the Court of Appeals in Milan acquitted him of the charges of corruption levelled at him as Director of the Novae Terrae Foundation, Verdict No. 3549, confirmed the following year by the High Court (Corte di Cassazione) on May 24th 2023, Verdict No.28227. The other charges have all been extinguished under the Statute of Limitations.José María Ballester Esquivias, Absuelto Luca Volonté tras siete anos de calvario judicial https://www.eldebate.com/internacional/20220528/absuelto-luca-volonte-siete-anos-calvario-judicial.html

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Volonte, Luca 1966 births Living people Deputies of Legislature XIII of Italy Deputies of Legislature XIV of Italy Deputies of Legislature XV of Italy Deputies of Legislature XVI of Italy 20th-century Italian politicians Prisoners and detainees of Italy