Gina Lollobrigida’s former manager accused of stealing millions to buy luxury cars

Gina Lollobrigida, the Italian movie legend, is at the centre of a new financial scandal as Rome prosecutors claim an alleged young conman has siphoned millions of pounds from her estate to finance his love of fast cars.

Miss Lollobrigida’s former manager, Andrea Piazzola, is alleged to have taken advantage of the 92-year-old screen siren, once dubbed “the most beautiful woman in the world”, by stealing funds to purchase luxury cars, including a Ferrari worth more than €300,000 (£270,000).

Piazzola, 32, will now face trial in Rome on claims he sold three plush apartments owned by Miss Lollobrigida near the Spanish Steps for more than €2 million (£1.8 million) in 2015 and stole hundreds of thousands of pounds from her personal accounts between 2013 and 2018.

“Miss Lollobrigida has been the victim of a crime,” Michele Gentiloni, lawyer for Miss Lollobrigida’s family, told The Telegraph on Tuesday.

“She put her faith in this man and instead he betrayed her and took advantage of her.”

Mr Gentiloni represents the actress’ only son, Milko Skofic Jr, her grandson Dmitri, and her former Spanish toyboy lover, Javier Rigau Rafols, who have both been embroiled in separate legal tussles with Miss Lollobrigida over her finances.

In 2017 Miss Lollobrigida, once a popular sex symbol in Italy, lost a case against Mr Rigau, a Spanish businessman 34 years younger than her, after she accused him of conning her into marriage to inherit her estate.

Three years earlier, Mr Skofic Jr, Lollobrigida’s son from her first marriage and only heir, sought legal action because he feared male advisers were taking advantage of his mother.

In the latest case, Mr Gentiloni said her son and Mr Rigau believed Piazzola had exploited Miss Lollobrigida’s “diminished mental capacity” for financial gain.

“When it comes to cinema Gina Lollobrigida is perfectly capable, but in the area of business and finance, she is not competent,” the lawyer said.

On Sunday Miss Lollobrigida received a lifetime achievement award at the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily but she made no reference to the financial scandal.

In one interview she said she had always been “a tough woman” who had a great desire to survive when others had given up on her.

While Miss Lollobrigida’s net worth has recently been estimated at around €18 million (£16 million), Mr Gentiloni said it was now far less because her villa near Rome’s Appian Way was one of the few assets she had left.  In 2013 jewels were sold by the actress at a Sotheby’s auction for £3.9 million.

Known in Italy as “La Lollo”, Miss Lollobrigida is best known for her romantic comedies and was often compared with two other sultry Italian actresses of the era – Sophia Loren and Claudia Cardinale.