Four people on trial for 'selling' US embassy in Rome to German businessman

Four people have gone on trial for allegedly tricking a German businessman out of €1.3 million, by pretending to sell him the US embassy and the UN food agency headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Wolfang Kroll, 57, appeared in a Rome court along with three accomplices on Friday. Kroll, also German, presented himself as a real estate broker with prized property in his hands. He allegedly approached the businessman, a Monaco resident, by first offering to sell the Porta di Roma shopping centre.



With the help of Donato Perazzolo, a fake bank representative, Kroll was able to convince their victim to send €400,000 to buy the Rome complex. When it came to selling the US embassy building on Via Veneto, and the headquarters of the UN food agency, Fao, the group needed more help.

Walter Baccini was brought in to impersonate a government official, while Anna Lisa Morganti is also accused of taking part in the scam. The price of the embassy was set at €580,000, while Fao was supposedly on sale for €600,000. The German businessman transferred a further €900,000 to the group, before realising he had been tricked.