Saturday, May 9th 2026
A former Italian ambassador has been arrested by the authorities in Italy, after he allegedly set up an illegal scheme for issuing Schengen visas to Russian citizens against payments of up to 16 thousand euros per person.
This is Piergabriele Papadia de Bottini di Sant’Agnese, the former Italian ambassador in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, who took over the leadership of this embassy on December 2, 2024. And also, then he also took over the “management of the visa office”, as Michel, the head of the visa office before the ambassador’s arrival, told the investigators of the Economic and Financial Police Unit of the Guardia di Finanza in Rome. of him at the Italian consulate in Moscow.
Now both are under investigation by the prosecutor’s office in Rome for favoring illegal immigration and corruption contrary to official duty. Yesterday, Guardia di Finanza operatives implemented the security measures issued by the judge of Rome, Annalisa Marzano. Papadia was arrested in Rome and sent to prison pending the completion of the investigation. He was fired from his post in December 2025.
According to the investigators, Papadia, with the help of his colleague, had set up a system for issuing long-term tourist visas (from one to three years) to Russian citizens, even when they did not meet the criteria required by the rules for entering the Schengen area.
Everything was done against very high payments, from 4 thousand to 16 thousand euros per person. While official fees for applications range from 45 to 60 euros. In addition, Papadia and his assistant had created a “VIP fee”.
The system was well-organized. It involved three Moscow-based travel agencies: Happy Travel, Visa4you and Park Lane, all at the same address. Through these agencies, at least 95 Russian citizens entered Italy without meeting the necessary visa conditions, such as lack of residence in the consular area (in this case Uzbekistan), documents signed differently from the signature on the passport or without being physically presented at the consulate.
According to the investigation, some requests were also sent through Telegram and were called “off the list”.
The investigation began after an inspection by the General Inspectorate of the Italian Foreign Ministry on July 23, 2025.
“Visa practices checked during the inspection showed obvious violations directly related to the head of the mission Papadia, who put the note ‘ok’ and his initials on the documents”, the investigators wrote.
Out of 92 controlled practices, in 81 cases the name of Russian citizens was missing from the embassy’s entry register, which means that they never appeared in person.
This is what the agencies served. One of them, Visa Concord Travel, “known by Papadia since 2014”, according to the investigators, had transferred between January and June 2025 about 23,600 euros to a Bulgarian bank account of Tarakanova, fictitiously justified as an “interest-bearing loan”.
The ministerial inspection was the beginning of the end for this scheme. The investigators reconstructed the entire mechanism, including the places where the first 95 beneficiaries of the visas issued in violation of the rules had stayed in Italy.
During a meeting with the inspectors, Papadia “stammered and could not speak”, Michel said. “Even Esposto (the deputy appointed by Papadia) was very concerned and told me that Papadia had done everything for financial gain.”
It was deputy Marco Esposto, recording a conversation with his boss during the inspection, that would get Papadia into trouble. Esposto, appointed “without any authority”, after realizing the loose way of issuing visas, feared disciplinary consequences and asked the boss: “Tell me why you did it? Did you do it for money? Because if that’s the reason, then you will pay for my children’s school until December.”
For the investigators, this answer constitutes an admission of guilt that is added to the other evidence collected. Papadia defended himself by saying: “The recording must be seen in context. It happened during the inspection, while the inspectors were in the next room. I was in a strong state of anxiety and weakness. I tried to calm him down.”
The arrest measure was also imposed due to the risk of escape, as the suspect was interested in the possibility of obtaining a visa to Russia.
Now the prosecutors and the Guardia di Finanza are continuing the investigation into about 400 practices visas and on Papadia’s fortune, estimated at around 3 million euros, which he claims comes from an inheritance.
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Source: prizrenpost
Etiketa: Brief
