Italian prosecutors probe Lavitola's restaurant and assets for alleged money-laundering links to Ranucci bombing
Rome prosecutors have ordered financial investigations into the Bistrò Cefalù restaurant, tied to Valter Lavitola, who is accused of orchestrating the bomb attack on journalist Sigfrido Ranucci.
The Rome public prosecutor's office has initiated a series of patrimonial checks on the Bistrò Cefalù restaurant, a ten-year-old establishment in the Monteverde district linked to Valter Lavitola, who remains incarcerated at Rebibbia and is accused of being the mastermind behind the bomb attack on Report presenter Sigfrido Ranucci. The probe also extends to the companion of the ex-director of Avanti! as authorities explore the management of the business.
Prosecutors are considering hypotheses of money-laundering and fictitious asset registration, aiming to map financial flows and holdings. The Tribunale del Riesame di Roma reaffirmed Lavitola's preventive detention and upheld the mafia-method aggravating factor. Forensic IT experts are completing analysis of extensive data extracted from seized smartphones and computers, seeking to recover erased chats that could reveal contacts between Lavitola, Gomes Clesio Tavares—currently missing in Africa—and the four alleged bomb executors.
