M5S founder Beppe Grillo investigated

Beppe Grillo, a stand-up comic and co-founder of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), is under investigation for influence peddling regarding several advertising contracts taken out by the Moby shipping company with his blog, sources said.

The owner of Moby, which is under investigation for bankruptcy, Vincenzo Onorato, allegedly paid Grillo’s website company for advertising contracts between 2018 and 2019, sources said.

Milan finance police searched the offices of Beppe Grillo SrL in the probe into suspected influence peddling by Grillo and Onorato.

Moby Lines (Moby Lines S.p.A.) is an Italian shipping company that operates ferries and cruiseferries between the Italian or French mainland and the islands of Elba, Sardinia and Corsica.

Grillo, 73, was one of Italy’s top comics when he became involved in politics in 2009 as the co-founder (together with the late Gianroberto Casaleggio) of the M5S, which became Italy’s top party at the 2018 general election.

Grillo is seen as a prime example of the populist surge which arose in Europe during the 2010s.

Photo – Co-founder of the Five Star Movement (M5S) political party, Beppe Grillo . EPA-EFE/GIUSEPPE LAMI

Via ANSA