Israeli agents, allegedly from Mossad,sought to buy information from a private Italian firm that has been illegally snooping into the lives of politicians, public officials, and sports and media personalities for years, according to Italian police documents quoted by the media on Tuesday.
The hack-for-hire scandal has been rocking Italian politics and public opinion for days since the local prosecutors unveiled the illicit operations and arrested several people over the weekend, including IT expert Nunzio Samuele Calamucci, 44. The police and prosecutors produced thousands of pages documenting phone calls, meetings, and evidence collected in the office of Equalize, a Milan-based company.
Calamucci and his associates, who included several current or former members of Italian police forces, managed to hack individual phones and devices and gain access to police and institutional databases. Their prices ranged from 250 euros to hack a personal phone to tens of thousands of euros for a dossier on a specific individual.
The targets of Equalize’s operations (at times in cooperation with additional companies specializing in security services) included Italian President Sergio Mattarella; Ignazio La Russa, president of the Italian Senate; prominent political leader Matteo Renzi; singer Alex Britti; and 2020 Olympic 100 meters champion Marcell Jacobs. Police found 800,000 dossiers in the company’s vault.
Entrepreneurs, companies, and public figures sought the company’s services.
On February 8, 2023, two unidentified Israeli agents visited the Equalize office and were photographed by the Carabinieri, who were surveilling the company, the Corriere della Sera reported on Tuesday.
The previous day, Calamucci had a conversation about an upcoming meeting with a partner, unaware that the police had already wiretapped his phone.
“They offered me a one-million euro job,” Calamucci said.
According to the Italian police report, the Israeli agents requested that the firm provide information about the Russian militia Wagner Group, including its funding and financial activities within Europe. Additionally, they discussed information about Russian cyber attacks, which were conducted by hackers close to the Russian authorities, and the funding of Russian interests in the Old Continent.
Calamucci highlighted that the Israelis were acting not only on their behalf but also on behalf of additional intelligence agencies. During the phone call, the Italian hacker mentioned the Vatican.
“They are using half of the data to fight Wagner, while they are giving the other half to the Vatican,” he said.
Vincenzo (Enzo) De Marzio, a former Carabiniere, allegedly facilitated the initial contact between the Israelis and the Italian hackers. In a wiretapped call, he explained to Calamucci that he first became acquainted with them while serving at the Italian embassy in Tel Aviv.“They have given us 40K until now, through Enzo,” Calamucci said, according to the Italian police.
The Italian investigators wrote in their report that De Marzio “provided the group with contacts, foreign intelligence, and very high-profile clients.”
According to the police documents, which include thousands of pages, the Israeli agents also offered to share with the Italian firm information about the illicit traffic of Iranian gas in Italy. This information could be of interest to a different client of Equalize, the Italian energy giant ENI, which, in a statement, denied any knowledge of any illegal activity by the firm.
Italian political leaders express concerns
Several Italian political leaders have expressed their concerns as more details about the snooping ring have emerged day after day.
“Intruding into people’s private lives and then using the information for financial or political purposes is truly a threat to democracy,” said Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio Tajani. “We cannot exclude that this information is being used by our geopolitical enemies, like Russia or other countries.”
“I’m bitter and hurt for me and my family,” Renzi said in an interview with Politico. “This is not the first time something like this has happened to me. But as an Italian, I’m angry because this is a threat to democracy and privacy.”
