German supermarket firm denies probe by Italian anti-mafia prosecutors

Milan (Italy), May 16 (IANS/AKI) German supermarket chain Lidl on Monday denied it is under investigation and ruled any wrongdoing after police arrested 15 people and put four of its management offices under state control amid a probe into links with a Sicilian mafia clan.

"Lidl Italia is not under investigation and is not being searched," and is "extraneous to today's anti-mafia operation," the company stated.

"It learned of these events from investigators during the course of the day."

Lidl said had offered Italian authorities its full cooperation in the anti-mafia probe "to shed light as soon as possible on what has happened".

Monday's arrests were made in the northern Lombardy and the southern Sicily region and came as part of an operating targeting the Sicilian mafia's Laudani clan.

The four Lidl management offices targeted by the anti-mafia probe have been put under staet control for six months, according to sources close to the investigation.

--IANS/AKI

vd