Rome prosecutors have opened an
investigation into a group suspected of illegally accessing
databases to compile dossiers on individuals, sources said on
Tuesday, amid concern that Italy's democracy itself could be in
peril after similar probes in Milan and Perugia.
The group, nicknamed 'Squadra Fiore' (Flower Team), allegedly
includes former law-enforcement officers, uses an apartment in
the north-east of Rome for its activities and has foreign
clients, the sources said.
The probe, launched in the spring, is being handled by the
postal police.
The Milan probe into illegal hacking and snooping on personal
police and interior ministry files involves more than 800,000
victims, police said Monday.
That hacking gang was allegedly led by Milan Fair Foundation
President Enrico Pazzali and ex supercop Carmine Gallo and
allegedly targeted mainly business figures but also high-ranking
politicians including President Sergio Mattarella and Senate
Speaker Ignazio La Russa, police have said.
The Perugia probe centres on the activities of a former finance
police officer, Pasquale Striano.
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