When the whistleblowing report reached Eni’s headquarters

Over the past few weeks, I have presented documents demonstrating the irregularities and unlawful conduct I identified at the Cuiabá Regional Sales Office, the limitations of the Internal Audit Report issued by Eni's Brazilian subsidiary, and several conflicts of interest that, in my view, should also have been examined.

But the story did not end with my dismissal.

One year later, I realized that the matter could no longer be addressed solely within Agip do Brasil.

On August 1, 2002, I sent a letter directly to Eni's Board of Directors in Italy.

The letter was addressed to the Chairman of the company, the CEO, the members of the Board of Directors, as well as the Division General Managers, the executives of Agip Petroli, and the Board of Statutory Auditors.

In that letter, I did not present a new version of the facts.

Instead, I sought to demonstrate that the way my whistleblowing report had been handled was incompatible with the principles that Eni itself declared to uphold in its Code of Ethics.

I explained that I had reported, in good faith, violations of the Eni Group's Code of Ethics and that, only a few weeks later, I had been dismissed.

I also stated that the retaliation I suffered was inconsistent with the ethical commitments publicly assumed by the company.

Throughout the letter, I raised questions that remained unanswered.

🔹 I asked why the company's internal channels had punished the employee who had reported the irregularities.

🔹 I asked what the company intended to conceal by dismissing an employee who had acted in accordance with the principles set forth in its own Code of Ethics.

🔹 And I asked how far the consequences of the corruption scheme and internal fraud I had identified might extend.

I also reminded Eni's directors of one of the fundamental principles set forth in the company's own Code of Ethics:

📌 "No belief that one is acting in ENI's best interests can ever justify conduct that is contrary to these principles".

My objective was - and still is - simple.

To ask Eni's headquarters to examine the documents in light of the principles that the company itself had established in its Code of Ethics.

After twenty-five years, I continue to ask for exactly the same thing:

🔴 that all the documentation be examined independently, impartially, and transparently.


❎ Learn more:

1️⃣ Letter to ENI's Board of Directors (August 1, 2002):
🔹 Original in Italian
🔹 English translation

2️⃣ Registered Mail Acknowledgment of Receipt (August 5, 2002)

The "Institutional Narrative" of the Flinto Case

In my previous post, I explained that I submitted a formal complaint to the Ethics Committee of IIA-The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA Global) concerning the conduct of Marco Petracchini, then Chief Audit Executive of Eni.

Today, I present a document that would later play a significant role in the years that followed.

After receiving my complaint, Marco Petracchini - then a member of the Board of Directors of the AIIA | Associazione Italiana Internal Auditors - sent a letter to roberto fargion, then Director General of the association, setting out his version of the events.

That document ultimately became the foundation of the "institutional narrative" that Eni would later use in different communications concerning the Flinto Case.

However, after carefully examining the letter, I believe one aspect deserves particular attention.

My complaint to IIA Global was essentially technical.

It compared facts and documentary evidence with specific provisions of the IIA Code of Ethics and the International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing.

Yet the letter does not address those issues.

Instead of responding to the technical aspects of the complaint, it seeks to construct an "institutional narrative" about the Flinto Case, containing statements regarding my conduct that I dispute on the basis of the documentary evidence accumulated over the past twenty-five years - evidence that is now being presented publicly through this campaign, ENI'S WAY — 25 YEARS OF TRUTH.

The letter focuses primarily on my activities, the legal proceedings involving the case, my communications with the company, and my public disclosures through the ENI'S WAY website, blog, and social media channels.

Naturally, everyone has the right to present their own version of the facts.

But when the matter under review concerns compliance with the professional standards governing Internal Auditing, one fundamental question remains:

📌 Were the technical grounds of the complaint ever truly addressed?

That question became even more relevant because the same "institutional narrative" was subsequently reproduced in several official Eni communications concerning the Flinto Case.

After twenty-five years, I continue to ask for exactly the same thing:

🔴 that the documents be examined for what they actually demonstrate, independently, impartially, and transparently.


❎ Learn more:

1️⃣ Letter from Marco Petracchini to the AIIA Italia:
🔹 Original in Italian
🔹 English translation

2️⃣ Complaint submitted to the Ethics Committee of The IIA Global

3️⃣ Agip do Brasil Internal Audit Report
🔹 Original in Portuguese
🔹 English translation