The Italian justice system blamed the former owner of a construction company for negligence in the use of amiate and must pay millions of euros in compensation.
The billionaire Stephan Schmidheiny He was recognized for his cutting-edge construction company, Eternit. The businessman’s image changed dramatically after the trials that blamed him for lead to the death of more than 2,000 people for the use of asbestos in Italy. His sentence was a 12-year sentence and millions of euros in compensation.
The construction material was used as thermal insulation, but it was banned in the European country in 1992 due to the health risk it poses. This trend continued throughout the continent for cause serious diseases such as lung cancer, damage to the chest and abdomen. Asbestos or asbestos is a group of six fibrous minerals that break off and their remains are absorbed by people’s respiratory systems.
The trial against the Swiss businessman began in mid-2013 but his sentence took more than 10 years because in the European country all appeals in these cases are usually exhausted. The court ordered Schmidheiny to serve a prison sentence and pay 50 million euros to the Casale City Council, 30 million to the Italian State and hundreds of millions to the families of the victims.
Stephan Schmidheiny, the billionaire who ended up in prison accused of causing the death of more than two thousand people
The billionaire was born in 1947 in Switzerland, as part of the fourth generation of one of the most important dynasties in the country. His position allowed him to enter the best educational establishments and he obtained his doctorate in Law from the University of Zurich in 1972. Despite the scope of his training, Schmidheiny began his career in family businesses and soon became CEO of the Eternit Group Switzerland .
The success of the Swiss at the head of the conglomerate allowed him to diversify his capital in banking, consumer goods, energy and technology markets until he landed in construction with Eternit. It is estimated that with this company caused 2,191 deathsdespite the fact that its consequences continue to affect hundreds of Italians and that its acute symptoms could cause the death of many of them in 2025.
After the billionaire was sentenced, the victims’ association Osservatorio Nazionale Amianto declared: “This verdict reinforces the battle of the victims and their families in pursuit of a world without asbestos and without that thirst for profits that sacrifices human lives.” The victims are more than 6,000 people who were employees or lived near the Schmidheiny factories.
Source: Ambito
