- A prostitution scandal rocks top Italian football.
- Around 70 players from Juventus, Inter and AC Milan are implicated.
- The agency «Ma. De Milano” offered VIP services with sex and drugs.
A prostitution scandal rocks top Italian football: around 70 Players from the biggest clubs in the country – including Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan – as well as ice hockey players, entrepreneurs and even a Formula 1 driver are said to be involved in the affair.
As “La Gazzetta dello Sport” reports, a joint investigation by the Milan public prosecutor’s office and the financial police (Guardia di Finanza) has dismantled a network that operated under the guise of the event agency “Ma. De Milano» operated and exclusive VIP services included Sex, drugs and luxurious parties offered.
Food, dance and sex
Four people have already been arrested in the course of the investigation, including 37-year-old Emanuele Buttini and his 38-year-old partner Deborah Ronchi, who are considered the suspected masterminds. She is being investigated for, among other things, incitement and exploitation of prostitution, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Many of the young escorts between the ages of 18 and 30 came from the greater Milan area and were specifically recruited for events with wealthy clients. The offer ranged from dinners in upscale restaurants to visits to exclusive nightclubs and stays in five-star hotels to travel and sexual services.
According to confiscated documents, the network generated revenue of over 1.2 million euros from these “all-inclusive experiences”. The organization was active in 26 clubs in Milan’s nightlife, expanding activities to the Greek island of Mykonos during the summer months.
From escort lady to main witness
The starting point of the investigation was the statement of a woman from Eastern Europe who stated that she had been accommodated in a building in which “Ma. De Milano” was based. There is also said to have been a secret nightclub there where parties with escort ladies took place. “They asked me several times to sleep with customers for money,” said the witness.
The women received ten percent of the drinks sales, with wealthy footballers spending up to 3,000 euros per night. She also learned from a Colombian woman that she had been forced to prostitute herself for 1,000 euros, half of which went to the Buttini-Ronchi couple.
According to the responsible public prosecutor, Buttini and Ronchi worked with six permanent escort ladies and, depending on the event, were able to rely on a network of around a hundred other Italian and foreign women.
Anyone who didn’t pay received a message from the escort lady
During the parties, the football players involved are said to have inhaled laughing gas from balloons provided by the suspects. The psychoactive substance is considered particularly attractive among athletes because it cannot be detected in doping tests. Hashish was also in circulation, said the witness.
If customers did not pay promptly, they were apparently put under pressure. In such cases, according to “Corriere della Sera”, an “accident” was even staged. An escort lady wrote to a 26-year-old football player after a night together: “I’ll tell you something, but keep it to yourself… I just took a test and I’m pregnant – for over three weeks.”
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Karin Leuthold (kle), born in 1968, has been working for 20 Minuten since 2005 and is currently working at the news desk.
