Disti removes president Lucibello over the use of funds

Enzo Lucibello no longer holds any position within Disti. Since 1984 the association has brought together the main retail chains and commercial parks operating in Ticino.

In the course of its work the committee identified what it describes as improper use of the association's funds by its president. According to the same statement, the committee had not been properly informed about it.

Acting on a mandate from the assembly, the measures judged necessary were adopted. These include preparing legal action to protect the association and its members, with the support of external specialists.

The handover and day-to-day business

The measures include ending all functions held by Lucibello and his departure from the association.

The committee is now working to secure the transition. In the meantime Disti says it is continuing its ordinary work in support of retail development in Ticino, in the interest of its members, of other economic actors in the region and of customers.

The accusations reported in the statement come from the association's committee. No response from the person concerned and no decision by a judicial authority is known at this stage.

Disti represents a sector that employs a significant number of people in the canton and that deals with the authorities on questions such as opening hours and the planning of retail centres. The credibility of a trade body in those discussions also depends on how it manages its own resources.

What follows now moves onto two separate levels. On one side the reshaping of the governing bodies, on the other the outcome of the announced proceedings, for which no timetable has been given.