A high-profile divorce battle involving an Italian businessman living in Monaco has expanded into a wider controversy touching on banking secrecy, data security and the reputation of the Principality’s financial sector…
As reported by Monaco Matin, renewable energy investor Diego Biasi has filed a criminal complaint alleging that confidential financial information may have been improperly obtained and used during ongoing divorce proceedings. While the complaint is formally against persons unknown, it reportedly centres, according to Entrevue.fr, on Adriano Fossati, a Monaco-based wealth manager employed by J. Safra Sarasin. Fossati is alleged to have accessed information that could assist Biasi’s estranged wife in pursuing financial claims.
Fossati strongly denies the allegations, insisting he had no access to Biasi’s banking information and describing the woman involved as merely a friend. His legal team maintains that any financial assessment was based solely on publicly available information and documents already in her possession. His lawyer has characterised the case as an attempt to use Monaco’s criminal justice system to influence divorce proceedings.
The dispute has nevertheless had immediate consequences. Fossati has reportedly been suspended by the bank as a precautionary measure while investigations continue and has filed a counter-complaint for alleged slanderous denunciation.
The affair has since attracted broader attention following commentary questioning the lifestyles of certain private bankers in Monaco and raising wider concerns about transparency, governance and oversight within the financial sector. The debate comes at a sensitive moment for the Principality as it continues efforts to strengthen anti-money laundering controls and secure removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list.
Further scrutiny has also been directed at J. Safra Sarasin following separate investigations in Italy into alleged money laundering networks. While those matters are distinct from the allegations involving Fossati, critics argue they add to growing questions surrounding compliance and accountability within Monaco’s banking industry.
With allegations of banking secrecy breaches now accompanied by claims of data theft and computer hacking, and more than €20 million reportedly at stake in the divorce proceedings, the case appears far from resolved. Beyond the personal dispute, it has become a story with broader implications for confidence in one of Monaco’s most important economic sectors.