Tax Police Search Fiat Headquarters

Tax police searched the headquarters of two companies controlled by Fiat on Saturday and were reported to be targeting senior executives on suspicion of falsifying company reports.

Fiat is Italy’s largest industrial group outside of state industry, and the search was expected to shake the Italian stock markets when trading resumes on Monday.

The companies being probed are Gemina, a leading investment and holding group, and RSC Editori, a publishing concern controlled by Gemina.

RSC, or Rizzoli-Corriere della Sera, controls the Milan daily Corriere della Sera and other widely circulated newspapers and magazines as well as a book division.

The investigation is part of a wider scrutiny prosecutors are giving large financial operations throughout the country.

It comes at a critical time for Gemina, which recently announced a plan of share-swaps and mergers that would form Italy’s second largest conglomerate.

The deal sparked the investigation after analysts complained not enough details were being made public and that small shareholders would be penalized.