Italian minister resigns after accusation of laundering stolen art
Italy’s undersecretary for culture, Vittorio Sgarbi, has made a series of explosive comments after being accused of laundering stolen art, telling two journalists who questioned him on the growing controversies: “If you die in a car crash, I will be happy.”
The European country’s antitrust authority (TAR) recently accused Sgbari of accepting lucrative fees to appear at key cultural events, which followed allegations he had laundered a stolen Rutilio di Lorenzo Manetti artwork. He has since stepped down from his position.
A well-known outspoken figure in Italian politics, Sgarbi decided to announce that he was stepping down without referencing the laundered painting scandal, instead arguing that the TAR investigation was the motivating factor.
“This conference, according to what the antitrust authority has sent me, would be incompatible, illicit, outlawed,” he said.
“Therefore, in order to prevent all of you from being accomplices to a crime, I speak from this moment free from my mandate as undersecretary.” It’s noted that he avoided the term “resignation”, which some interpret as him priming for retaliation.
Sgarbi has claimed the controversy surrounding the painting was merely a form of political aggression, and the painting was seized by Italian authorities.
“I am not allowed to speak and promote art and my ideas in any way,” he wrote. When given the platform to discuss the issues on national television last week, he exercised his freedom by calling journalists “as ignorant as goats” and threatened to expose his genitals on air.
This is a developing story.
