Investigation into market manipulation at Lazio: threats and plots to force Lotito to give up

The Rome Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation into market manipulation involving Lazio president Claudio Lotito. Prosecutors Lorenzo Del Giudice and Lucia Lotti, with the authorization of deputy prosecutor Giuseppe Cascini, issued a search warrant executed by the Carabinieri of the Rome Investigative Unit.

The suspects are Mauro Masi (president of Banca del Fucino), Francesco Maiolini (CEO of the same bank), and Luigi Bisignani. According to the accusation, they allegedly spread "false news" through social media, the publication Millenovecento, and the newspaper Il Tempo to cause "a significant alteration in the stock price of Ss Lazio Spa," a publicly traded company.

According to investigators, the alleged campaign aimed to create conditions for Lotito to sell the team by tarnishing his image through a series of intimidating incidents lasting about two years.

The case originated from complaints filed by Lazio president Claudio Lotito between June and July 2025. Lotito reported to investigators a series of episodes he believed were part of an organized campaign to force him to relinquish ownership of the biancoceleste club.

Among the elements indicated were protest banners appearing in public places in Rome, offensive stickers near his residence, a phone call with death threats received on July 17, 2025, and a massive volume of offensive messages also sent to his institutional email at the Senate. The Prosecutor's Office reconstructed about twenty episodes involving intimidation, threats, and insults.

The investigation then focused on the possible funding of these activities. From the investigations, it emerged that some social media defamation actions were "wholly or partially financed by Maiolini." Investigators are now trying to reconstruct any "broader and unified scheme" and identify other individuals involved, the "third parties" mentioned in the decree.