David Rossi, the communications director of the Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena, died in 2013. It was believed till date that he committed suicide, as his body was found beneath an open window of the bank’s headquarters in Siena. After 13 years, new evidence surfaced to a parliamentary commission that had been investigating the death and two unnamed men claimed that the ex-chairman of the bank sent thugs to threaten Rossi after Rossi decided to tell authorities about the bank’s dealings with the mafia.But the plan was not to kill him, only to threaten him by dangling him from his office window. But then the grip slipped accidentally and Rossi dropped 60 ft to his death. The bank, at that time, was facing a corruption scandal and its finances were in shambles. The ex-chairman of the bank who ordered the threatening was Giuseppe Mussari.Reports claimed that Rossi was moving millions of euros from one account to another for the Grande Aracri clan, a powerful group within the southern Italian ’Ndrangheta organisation, and Rossi was going to tell the authorities about this.
David Rossi was found dead in 2013 and it was called a suicide.
‘I have done something stupid’
A note was found in Rossi’s bin which said: I have done something stupid and this was considered as a suicide note for years.One witness has now claimed that Mussari employed Gabriele Ceccherelli, a former member of a Florence team that plays calcio storico, a violent, medieval version of football, to orchestrate a plan to intimidate Mr Rossi, the Daily Mail reported. Ceccherelli sent two teammates to scare Rossi.Ceccherelli denied any involvement. “I know nothing about this; I don’t know anyone involved in this case,” he said. “The only time I’ve ever been to Siena was to buy a pair of shoes.”Another witness said the hired thugs parked their van at the entrance to the alley to stop passers-by from spotting Rossi’s body. CCTV footage also showed two men looking at the body on the street before walking away. Two initial inquiries concluded that he had taken his own life but his family insisted that he was murdered. The parliamentary inquiry was ordered in 2021.CCTV footage also raised suspicion as it showed him falling backwards from his office window, slamming into the ground on his back. He weakly moved his head and arms for around 20 minutes as he lay on the ground, before succumbing to his injuries.Mussari dismissed the allegations and said he would take legal action to clear his name.
