Gina Lollobrigida’s estranged son hits out at ‘toyboy’ found guilty of embezzling £9million from his Italian film legend mother before her death at 95

Actress Gina Lollobrigida’s son has slammed a ‘toyboy’ for embezzling £9 million from the Italian movie legend earlier than she died in January aged 95. 

Milko Skofic described Andrea Piazzolla, who was jailed for 3 years, as ‘heartless’ and revealed how the crafty fraudster had even forbidden him from seeing his dying mum.

Piazzolla, 36, was convicted of ‘brainwashing’ and defrauding Lollobrigida, who rose to prominence within the Sixties because the ‘world’s most stunning girl’ and appeared in scores of movies reverse actors equivalent to Sean Connery and Tony Curtis. 

Piazzolla, described as a ‘toyboy’ by Italian media, swindled Lollobrigida out of £9million price of property, money, vehicles and jewelry from 2013 to 2018 whereas working as her assistant, a courtroom in Rome heard.

He cared for Lollobrigida in her ultimate years and even moved in with the actress at her Rome villa, the place he allegedly purchased sports activities vehicles for lots of of hundreds of kilos with the actress’s cash earlier than promoting them. 

He was discovered responsible on Monday of profiting from Lollobrigida’s age and vulnerability to con her out of the overwhelming majority of her property. 

Mr Skofic, 65, instructed Italian TV host Bruno Vespa:’ The primary time I noticed my mom in years, was when she was on her deathbed, and she or he was very emotional.

‘She instructed she had executed the whole lot wrongs as she shook her head, I used to be with my son Dimitri as we spoke.’

He added:’ I had anticipated the sentence, Piazzolla was heartless in the direction of my mom and the proof towards him was heavy and concrete.’

Describing how he was forbidden from seeing his mom he mentioned:’ I could not converse along with her as a result of both I referred to as and Piazzolla was there and my mom spoke on speakerphone, or he answered.

‘The issue is that I used to be thrown out, I used to be not allowed to enter the home and see my mom. However earlier than that I used to be typically along with her, we lived shut collectively.

‘I wasn’t allowed to speak to her and he in flip instructed her I needed to have her dedicated so it regarded as if all I needed was her cash however in actuality I needed to examine on what he was spending her cash on.’

When requested if he had been a great son, he replied:’ Sure, the issue is that I used to be kicked out by him and so it made the connection with my mom tough, I wasn’t allowed to see her, he would not let me.’

Piazzolla, 36, was convicted of ‘brainwashing’ and defrauding Lollobrigida, who shot to fame within the Sixties because the ‘world’s most stunning girl’ in a collection of blockbuster motion pictures the place she appeared alongside Sean Connery and Tony Curtis.

The courtroom in Rome heard how he swindled her out of property, together with an house within the metropolis and one in Montecarlo, plus a home in Tuscany, vehicles, jewelry and money, between 2013 and 2018 when he labored for her.

A portray of Venus and Cupid which she owned was offered for £10,000 to a French antiques retailer when it was price most likely ten occasions as a lot.

Piazzolla was discovered responsible on Monday of profiting from Lollobrigida’s failing well being and vulnerability and given three years, though prosecutors had requested for seven.

Prosecutors and monetary consultants are nonetheless attempting to trace down different property he could have offered and hidden away however worry they’ll by no means discover them.

Her son has been awarded 450,000 Euros as an interim however the true worth of her property is estimated to be a lot larger though a lot of it was offered off by Piazzolla.

He gained over her belief ands moved in along with her and was typically at her aspect, and on the identical time he pushed her son apart.

Initially earlier than she died Lollobrigida has claimed Piazzolla was harmless of the whole lot and instructed the courtroom:’ He’s at my aspect like a son, serving to me to maintain going.’

She claimed her son ‘had disappeared from my life for years and returned, to not give me affectionate help, however to take my wealth away from me’.

However an professional instructed the courtroom Lollobrigida had been swayed by Piazzolla whereas being ‘mentally weak’.

In Lollobrigida’s will, the intercourse image break up her property between her son Milko Skofic Jr and Piazzolla, prompting her household to accuse the assistant of manipulating the actress into giving him a share of her property. 

That longstanding authorized dispute took one other twist in Might when Italian authorities compiling a listing of Lollobrigida’s property mentioned they discovered that £9million (€10million) of property, the overwhelming majority of the star’s wealth, have disappeared.

Now Piazzolla, who began working for Lollobrigida in 2009 when he was 21, has been convicted of embezzling that quantity from the actress and ordered to instantly hand greater than £500,000 to Mr Skofic. 

The Italian gained the actress’s belief, moved in along with her in Rome and was typically seen at her aspect at glamourous occasions. 

Piazzolla was accused of shopping for a Ferrari along with her cash earlier than promoting it and handing the cash to his mother and father. He was additionally accused of fraudulently shopping for a F-Sort Jaguar, which he allegedly offered in 2018 for €130,000 earlier than pocketing the proceeds. 

The assistant was additionally accused of utilizing the actress’s cash to purchase two residences close to Rome’s Spanish Steps and promoting them for €2million. 

When the trial first started earlier than Lollobrigida’s demise, the actress had insisted Piazzola had not stolen from her. She instructed the courtroom on the time: ‘He’s at my aspect like a son, serving to me to maintain going.’ 

Lollobrigida claimed her son Skofic, ‘had disappeared from my life for years and returned, to not give me affectionate help, however to take my wealth away from me’. 

However an professional instructed the Rome courtroom Lollobrigida had been swayed by Piazzolla whereas being in a ‘weak’ state and couldn’t be trusted along with her funds consequently. 

Prosecutors mentioned Piazzolla had stored the actress in ‘isolation’ and in a ‘state of vulnerability’. 

However the assistant, who has vowed to attraction towards his sentence, mentioned after the decision: ‘I consider I used to be the one one who took care of Gina Lollobrigida with love.’ 

Piazzolla’s attorneys had claimed that Lollobrigida was not weak and knew what she was doing when she signed the need and transferred property to the assistant. 

In the meantime, Skofic instructed Italian newspaper La Repubblica in Might that Piazzolla had ruined the final years of his mom’s life by isolating her from ‘the whole lot she held pricey’.

‘For 3 years, I wasn’t even capable of get into her home,’ he mentioned. ‘Her mates stored ringing me to ask why nobody answered their telephone calls… Practically all of her closest mates have been evaded her… All the things was in his arms.’

Skofic launched authorized motion towards Piazzolla as early as 2015, when he accused him of taking management of agency Vissi D’arte which manages Lollobrigida’s property and utilizing it to promote three luxurious properties in addition to shopping for a Pagani supercar. 

The newest authorized case associated to 350 objects of artwork and antiques price an estimated £250,000 that Piazzolla is accused of promoting with out Lollobrigida’s data.

Their relationship dates again a minimum of a decade, to when he grew to become her driver aged 24. He was subsequently promoted to her handyman after which to her supervisor, earlier than transferring to reside along with her alongside together with his accomplice.

Hypothesis has swirled for years about how shut the pair had develop into – with Piazzolla typically displaying up at awards ceremonies on her arm. 

The actress had described Piazzolla as a ‘son’ and revealed that he has named his daughter Gina after her, describing the little woman as ‘a tiger’. 

She described him as ‘a stroke of luck’ who ‘helped me transfer forwards’ along with her life in recent times after she grew to become estranged from Mr Skofic.

Lollobrigida additionally beforehand accused her former toyboy lover, Javier Rigau, of conning her into marriage in an try to inherit her cash. 

She was with the 58-year-old for over 20 years and the couple reportedly deliberate to get married, however the ceremony by no means came about after the star referred to as it off. 

Regardless of splitting up in 2007, the Spanish businessman managed to marry her by proxy in 2010 with out her data by utilizing an impersonator to face in as Lollobrigida on the service in Barcelona.

She solely found the wedding in 2013 and Rigau was charged with fraud and forgery.

A movie star and intercourse image of the Sixties and Seventies, Lollobrigida featured in additional than 60 movies. Together with rival Sofia Loren, Lollobrigida was one among a small variety of Italian stars who achieved worldwide fame with a profession in Hollywood.

She starred in  movies equivalent to The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1956, Unusual Bedfellows alongside Rock Hudson in 1965 and Good Night, Ms Campbell in 1968 – performing alongside the likes of Sean Connery, Humphrey Bogart and Frank Sinatra.

Identified affectionately by followers and household as ‘La Lollo’, she additionally starred in Trapeze and Lady of Rome, and break up her time between a villa in Monte Carlo, a mansion in Rome and one other property in Sicily.

After performing, she began a profession as a photographer and sculptor within the Eighties.