Fazio was forced to resign and BPI Managing Director, Gianpiero Fiorani, was arrested on a number of charges in connection with the attempted takeover, having been accused of using illegal procedures.
[2] During the summer of 2004, ABN AMRO sought authorization from the Banca d'Italia to increase its ownership share of the Antonveneta bank from 12.6% to 20%, thereby making it the largest single shareholder.
[citation needed] On 29 March 2005, the Spanish bank, BBVA, launched a bid to increase its controlling share of 15% in order to become the majority shareholder of BNL.
According to the Italian markets regulator Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSoB), BPL had been purchasing Antonveneta stocks since November 2004 through a secret shareholder agreement and as late as 17 January 2005, but declared only a little over 2% ownership.
Fiorani revealed under questioning in December 2005, that the operation was financed by amassing money through illegal bank charges and by taking it from accounts of deceased people.
Also identified was Roberto Colaninno of Olivetti, Vice President of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena previously convicted for insider trading.
Meanwhile, prosecutors in Rome decided to open a case on banking sector developments and Fiorani was added to the list of names being investigated as of 12 July.
Among those identified were Emilio Gnutti; Stefano Ricucci, owner of Magiste previously implicated in the murky inflation of RCS; the Lonatis; and Danilo Coppola.
On 2 August the judge for the preliminary investigation Clementina Forleo validated the stock seizure and directed measures against Fiorani and Gianfranco Boni, the BPI financial director.
[5] On 29 September the news filtered down that the head of Banca d'Italia had been investigated since early August by the prosecutor in Rome for possible abuse of his office in relation to the Antonveneta inquiry.
On 7 December Giovanni Consorte, head of the insurance company Unipol, was added to the list of those being investigated for his participation in the buying of Antonveneta shares on behalf of Fiorani.
The same day Vito Bonsignore came under investigation for stock manipulation, a Member of the European Parliament from the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDC) party and an entrepreneur.
According to the magistrates, Unipol would have aided Fiorani in the illegal inflation of Antonveneta and potentially received benefits from the intricate web of relationships woven with the other so-called furbetti del quartierino (?)
On 2 January, Il Giornale publicized part of the telephone wiretaps of calls between Consorte and the secretary of the Democratici di Sinistra (DS) party member Piero Fassino and amplified the political scandal.
After repeated requests by the supporters of l'Unione (a centre-left political party) to make an immediate statement to the magistrates, the next day he presented himself to the prosecutor of Rome.
On 18 January the president of Generali, Antoine Bernheim, testified before the magistrate and categorically denied having been pressured to sell by members of the left party, only by Fazio.
Ben Ammar confirmed having spoken of these meetings, but he also denied the allegation by Berlusconi, "Bernheim and me never told the president of the Council that political representatives of the left or right applied pressure."