New York prosecutor drops charges against Fiat heir Lapo Elkann (updated)

IIG SpA in Liquidazione

25/01/2017 15:59

(Adds background on family, more comment from lawyer) 
    By David Ingram 
    NEW YORK, Jan 25 (Reuters) - New York prosecutors have 
dropped charges that Lapo Elkann, grandson of late Fiat 
patriarch Gianni Agnelli, falsely reported he was kidnapped in 
November in an effort to get ransom money. 
    The office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said 
on Wednesday it had declined to prosecute the case but gave no 
other details. 
    Elkann, 39, had apparently concocted a fake abduction scheme 
after running out of cash during a drug-fueled partying binge, a 
law enforcement source said.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1DU2AD 
    A U.S. defense lawyer for Elkann, Randy Zelin, confirmed 
there would be no prosecution and said his client was grateful 
justice had prevailed.  
    "The District Attorney's Office conducted a thorough and 
exhaustive investigation and determined my client had not done 
anything criminally," Zelin said. 
    He declined to provide details of what the investigation 
showed. Earlier reports about the incident had amounted to 
"false news," he added.  
    Elkann, who along with his older brother, Fiat Chrysler 
 FCHA.MI  Chairman John Elkann, is an heir to Italy's biggest 
industrial dynasty. Lapo Elkann nearly died of a drug overdose 
in 2005 after collapsing in the apartment of a transsexual 
prostitute. 
    While the elder Elkann is known as shy and reserved, Lapo's 
flamboyant style has made him a celebrity in Italy, where he 
owns a stable of luxury sports cars and is dedicated to his 
family's soccer club, Juventus  JUVE.MI . 
    In November, Elkann told New York City police he had been 
held against his will at a Manhattan apartment for more than a 
day. A law enforcement source said Elkann met a 29-year-old man 
through an escort website and that they used drugs together 
before the kidnapping report. 
    Elkann was released after his arrest and had been due in 
court on Wednesday until the charges were dropped. He now wants 
to leave the episode behind him, his lawyer said. 
    "I want the wind at his back," Zelin said. "Look at him as 
the creative, brilliant and philanthropic person that he is." 
    Elkann no longer holds any positions at Fiat, but is on the 
board of directors at luxury carmaker Ferrari  RACE.MI , one of 
the companies controlled by his family. 
    In 2007 he founded sunglasses company Italia Independent 
 IINT.MI , which debuted on the Milan stock market in 2013. 
    The Agnelli family's investment holding company Exor 
 EXOR.MI  also owns reinsurer PartnerRe and has holdings in 
truck and tractor maker CNH Industrial  CNHI.MI . 
 
 (Reporting by David Ingram; Additional reporting by Nate 
Raymond; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jeffrey Benkoe) 
 ((David.Ingram@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6720; Reuters 
Messaging: David.Ingram.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: USA ELKANN/