PROSECUTORS FROM Naples were in Switzerland yesterday gathering evidence for a probe into Italian state-controlled aerospace and defence company Finmeccanica for allegedly setting up slush funds for bribes, judicial sources said.

Prosecutors were being escorted by local authorities in Lugano to collect evidence in an attempt to verify money flows through Swiss accounts, the sources said. The sources would not give any further details or name any banks.

The Swiss searches were connected to new developments in the investigation and followed statements made by the former head of institutional relations at Finmeccanica, Lorenzo Borgogni, who last spoke to prosecutors last week, according to the sources.

Finmeccanica was not available for comment.

Finmeccanica, 32 per cent owned by the state, has been under investigation for some time for accusations that it created false invoices and slush funds to bribe politicians. Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, who had been chairman and chief executive since 2002, stepped down in December. – (Reuters)