Police seize ‘spy glasses’ from Italian minister’s ex-lover
Italian police have raided the home of an influencer whose affair with the country’s tourism minister brought about his political downfall, with officers seizing a pair of “spy glasses” which she used to film inside parliament.
Maria Rosaria Boccia is under investigation for allegedly making threats to Gennaro Sangiuliano, who was forced to resign over their affair earlier this month.
The exact nature of the alleged threats has not been made public by prosecutors, but under Italian law it is an offence to make threats to a public official or politician.
Police raided her home in Pompeii, the modern town adjacent to the World Heritage ancient Roman archaeological site, seizing her computer, mobile phone and a pair of “spy glasses” that she used to record video of herself walking through the corridors of power in the lower house of parliament in Rome.
The influencer and fashion entrepreneur subsequently uploaded the video to social media, breaching rules which forbid visitors from recording video and audio inside parliament. She was subsequently banned from entering parliament for making the recordings with the Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses which are equipped with a tiny camera and microphone.
Ms Boccia is also under investigation for alleged assault, amid accusations that she hit the minister and left him with an injury to his head.
Before his resignation, he appeared at events in public with a large strip of plaster on his forehead.
The relationship between Mr Sangiuliano, 62, and Ms Boccia, 41, appears to have ended acrimoniously in July.
In leaked private text messages that were published by an Italian newspaper, La Verità, she told him that he had “sent her out of her mind” and had driven her crazy “like a hyena”.
According to the leaked messages, the minister told her: “I have done things that I should never have done,” according to one of the leaked messages.
Mr Sangiuliano made a tearful confession to the affair on primetime television earlier this month, apologising to Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister, for causing her embarrassment, and to his wife for his betrayal.
He was the first minister to resign from Ms Meloni’s Right-wing government since it came to power nearly two years ago.
Ms Boccia claimed that the minister had hired her as a grand events organiser and that she had been privy to classified information about a G7 summit for culture ministers, prompting concern from opposition parties that the security of the event was compromised.
He denied that, saying that he had considered hiring her but had changed his mind after being advised that there would be a conflict of interest.
Since the scandal broke, Ms Boccia has claimed, during television interviews and on numerous social media posts, that she was appointed as a consultant by the Mr Sangiuliano. She posted numerous photos of the two of them attending events, meetings, lunches and dinners.
Mr Sangiuliano insisted that she had not received a single euro of public money. He admitted attending events with Ms Boccia but said he had paid for everything himself with his personal credit card.
