The father of Paolo Palumbo, the 24-year-old chef from Oristano suffering from ALS, is barred for scam .

The trial against Marco Palumbo opened today in Nuoro, but was immediately postponed to next January 27th.

According to the accusation, the father of the young chef has promoted a "deceptive" fundraiser to treat his son . He is accused of the continued fraud linked to false contacts with the Israeli doctor Dimitrios Karoussis, who should have administered an innovative gene therapy called " Brainstorm " to Paolo Palumbo.

According to the indictment, Marco Palumbo would have led Vincenzo Mascia, the neurologist who followed his son, to believe that the Israeli professional had included Paolo in a very expensive experimental treatment (it was around, Palumbo said, around one million euros). For this the parent has opened a subscription that has induced many people to make large donations .

A crowfunding started on the GoFundMe platform that had led to the collection, on a Postepay in the name of Paolo Palumbo, of 150 thousand euros . Money that Paolo's family, once the first doubts about its use emerged, had promised to return.

The investigation was initiated by the complaint of the neurologist Mascia . Initially the Oristano Postal Police took care of it, the file was then moved to Nuoro because the current account used for donations had been opened in the city of Barbagia.

Now Marco Palumbo, defended by lawyers Gianfranco Siuni and Mario Gusi, must explain to the judges how things went. The offended parties that could be formed in court are many : the neurologist Mascia, who has in fact started the investigation with his complaint, and the underwriters of the fundraiser.

Paolo's story between 2019 and 2020 had gone around the world: the presence in Sanremo , the meetings with the Pope and Sergio Mattarella, the face to face with Barack Obama at the Expo.

(Unioneonline / L)

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