Former speaker of Italy’s Chamber of Deputies, Roberto Fico, faces mounting pressure over a 10-metre boat moored at a military facility ahead of regional elections in Campania, where he is set to run for president.
Fico, a prominent member of the catch-all Five Star Movement party who built his image on anti-establishment and anti-privilege politics, owns a vessel called Paprika according to ship registry records published by Brothers of Italy senator Antonio Iannone.
The motor yacht with living quarters suitable for short cruises built in 2001 was moored at the Air Force Academy club at Nisida island near Naples for €500 annually.
The club is off-limits to civilians, and the privilege is granted only exceptionally to those holding essential government positions, according to Italian media reports.
In the region of Campania, commercial rates for annual mooring of a 10-metre vessel like Fico’s can be anywhere between €2,000 and €7,000, reaching €12,000 in premium locations like Capri.
Despite his term ending in 2022, Fcio allegedly continued to benefit from the discounted military mooring for three more years after leaving office.
Fico called the vessel “just a used gozzo” — a traditional fishing boat from the region — and accused his opponents in the upcoming elections of running a campaign on “absurd and instrumentalised” attacks.
He said he requested the mooring for security reasons when he was Chamber speaker.
It is unclear when Fico bought the motor yacht, with Italian media claiming it was purchased either right before or immediately after the parliament’s dissolution in July 2022.
Other sources claim he might have bought the vessel valued at between €120,000 and €150,000 after leaving office in October 2022.
Iannone questioned whether Fico properly declared the boat purchase in his parliamentary asset statements as required by a 1982 law, stating he may not have reported it within three months of leaving office.
Fico has told people in his circle he purchased Paprika only in April 2024, meaning he could not have declared it as an asset during his time at the Chamber of Deputies, according to a report in Il Messagero newspaper.
However, he was granted mooring rights at the Air Force club in 2018, with his critics slamming Fico for inconsistencies in his timeline and asking whether the request was made to park someone else’s boat there instead.
Senator Sergio Rastrelli, also of the Brothers of Italy party, filed a parliamentary question with Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, asking for clarification on what he said was “illegal” mooring at a military facility.
“If it turns out to be true, we would be facing an extremely serious matter: no one can consider themselves above the rules and institutions of the state,” Rastrelli said in a statement.
Who else came under fire in Europe?
The controversy has drawn comparisons to similar scandals across Europe involving politicians’ luxury assets.
In France, conservative presidential candidate François Fillon’s 2017 campaign collapsed after reports he received suits worth €48,500 from luxury Parisian tailor Arnys between 2012 and 2017.
Fillon, who also served as France’s prime minister, was later convicted of embezzling public funds to pay his wife and children for parliamentary work they allegedly never performed, receiving a five-year prison sentence, with three years suspended, in June 2020.
Former Greek Transport Minister Michalis Liapis was arrested in December 2013 for driving a Volkswagen Touareg luxury jeep with fake number plates and no insurance. He told police he made homemade plates “so I can take small rides.”
Liapis, who also served as culture minister, received a suspended four-year prison sentence and a €3,000 fine in December 2013.
A native of Naples, Fico — no relation to Slovak Premier Robert Fico — started out as one of the early local backers of the Five Star Movement, known for calls to “open parliament like a can of tuna.” He famously took public buses to parliament after his election as Chamber speaker.
Fico’s boat is currently moored at Procida, according to Italian media reports. The Campania regional elections will take place on 23 and 24 November.