2nd Industrialist Caught Up in Italian Scandal Kills Self

Italy’s vast corruption scandal claimed another casualty Friday when one of the country’s most prominent industrialists shot and killed himself following reports that he had set up a slush fund to pay off politicians.

The news that Raul Gardini, former head of the Ferruzzi-Montedison agro-industrial giant, had become the second leading business figure to commit suicide this week stunned a nation already mired in debate about the escalating human toll from judicial investigations.

On Tuesday, Gabriele Cagliari, former chairman of the state energy conglomerate ENI, suffocated himself with a plastic bag in his cell in Milan’s San Vittore prison.

Gardini apparently shot himself with a pistol at his Milan apartment.

A dashing, silver-haired sailing enthusiast who sponsored Italy’s Moor of Venice yacht in last year’s America’s Cup race off San Diego, Gardini was informed in February that he was facing investigation for the sale of Ferruzzi’s stake in the Enimont chemicals firm, a joint venture set up by Ferruzzi and ENI.