Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo apologises for security breach involving PM Meloni

ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo apologised on Sunday for an embarrassing security breach that reportedly targeted Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and other high-profile figures.

Newspaper Domani on Thursday reported that an Intesa employee had been fired after it was discovered he had spied on the bank accounts of thousands of customers, including Meloni.

“As made public, a disloyal employee of our bank, through conduct that gravely violated laws, regulations, and internal procedures, unjustifiably accessed data and information concerning some clients,” Intesa said in a statement.

“We notified the Data Protection Authority, dismissed the disloyal employee, and filed a complaint as an injured party. We are deeply sorry for what has occurred and we apologize. This must never happen again,” it added.

Meloni acknowledged the reported incident in a Saturday interview with news programme TG5, saying she expected the judiciary to investigate what happened and any possible conspiracy behind it.

“I think that there are public and private sector employees who illegally take information and sell it on … who are they selling it to? This is the answer we are waiting for, presumably there are interests behind this,” she said.

On Saturday, sources at Intesa said the bank would appoint a retired top official from the Carabinieri police force, Antonio De Vita, to oversee the company’s cybersecurity and security services.

(Reporting by Alvise Armellini; Editing by David Holmes)