I need your
help! You must be following my posts here on LinkedIn. For more than 16 years I
have been undertaking a personal saga, tirelessly and unceasingly, to rescue
and restore my name, my honor and my reputation that are being denigrated and
depreciated by the Italian oil giant to this day.
It all
started in 2001. After finding out about a millionaire scheme of internal fraud
and corruption at Eni's Brazilian subsidiary, I reported these facts to the
internal channels of the company to comply with the determinations of Eni's
Code of Ethics. In the following weeks, little happened and I ended up being
fired. After invoking Eni Brazil's Ethics Committee, I received a response from
the CEO of the Brazilian operation saying that my resignation was due to an
"administrative and organizational reestructuring" and not because of
a "retaliation", as I had stated. This was the 1st version about my
resignation.
In 2010, in
an attempt to intimidate and silence me, Eni filed a lawsuit - in the Civil
Court of Rome - against me and against the Brazilian Business Ethics Institute,
demanding an indemnity of 15 million Euro for any slander and defamation. In
order to disqualify me before the judge, the company stated that everything I
said was a fallacy and that, in fact, Eni made an "undercover investigation"
in Brazil and I had a "reticent" and "non-cooperative"
posture, thus ceasing the "trusting relationship" and, consequently,
my "resignation". This was the 2nd version about my resignation.
In 2014,
thank God, the judge ruled that the lawsuit filed by Eni was
"groundless". The company didn't want to make an agreement and
preferred to appeal to the second instance. The pre-sentence hearing would have
taken place on March 30th, 2018, but due to bottlenecks in the Italian Justice,
it has been postponed to "October 2019".
In 2016, my
story was published in the first "investigative book" called
"Eni: The Parallel State". This work was written by two renowned
Italian journalists and, in a few months, become a "best seller" at
Italy. One of the authors wrote me saying that they "decided to include my
story because, after reading most of the documents I sent and talking to its
sources, they became convinced that the story was well-founded, and that it was
right and interesting to include it in the context of the book".
In 2017,
during the "Shareholders' Meeting" of Eni (AGM 2017), another
journalist, in the quality of "Critical Shareholder" of Eni, took my
case to the shareholders of the company through 10 questions to be answered by
the members of Eni's Administrative Council. Instead, the company wrote a long
text and presented the 3rd version about my resignation: "Mr. Flinto was
fired along with other employees of wrongful conduct, for reticence, for
breaching the confidentialy obligation and for trying to use Eni's Code of
Ethics for personal gains in the company".
Note that
the Italian oil giant, in each new version regarding my resignation, distorted
the facts that originally motivated the denunciations presented by me. Besides,
it is uncontrovertible that one version is more false and lying, cruel and
cowardly, harmful and hurtful than the other. Indeed, I was victim of my own
complaint, I had my professional career destroyed and this company was
responsible for my loss of retirement (Access this LINK and know more details
about my story).
For all
these reasons, I decided to participate at Eni's "AGM 2018" that will
be held in Rome on May 10th, 2018. My goal is to be with the members of Eni's
Administrative Council "face to face" and, in addition to increasing
the "pressure" on this company, try to, finally, rescue and restore
my name, my honor and my reputation with the support of the others shareholders
of Eni present at the meeting.
However, I
confess that I am a commom citizen and, since 2015, I've struggling to keep the
Business Ethics Institute open, even fostering such and important and recurring
issue. Unfortunately, I don't have enough resources to afford the high costs of
an international trip. For this reason, I started a "chip in" online
before my LinkedIn connections.
I take the
liberty of asking for your help so that me and my lawyer can arrive at Rome on
May 10th, 2018. You can contribute with US$ 50 (or 50 Euro)! In order not to
mix these resources with my checking account or the Business Ethics
Institute's, the deposit should be made in the current account of our
"social arm" , founded a few months ago, but still no activities
(IBAN number: BR4600000000069370000118800C1).
If you are
sensitive about my fight and can help me, please let me know the day you made
the deposit to my control.
To all the
connections of my LinkedIn that help me, I will make an
"accountability" soon after returning to Brazil with all the
transparency and honesty that this subject demands.
May God
give you back what you have done for me!
All the
best.
Douglas
Linares Flinto
Brazilian
Business Ethics Institute
Chairman
& CEO