VZCZCXRO5825
PP RUEHFL RUEHNP
DE RUEHRO #1229/01 1561404
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 051404Z JUN 07 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8233
INFO RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN PRIORITY 8700
RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE PRIORITY 2429
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES PRIORITY 2589

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ROME 001229 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EB/IFD/OIA AND L/CID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EINV CASC KIDE OPIC PGOV IT
SUBJECT: ITALY 2007 REPORT ON INVESTMENT DISPUTES AND 
EXPROPRIATION CLAIMS (527 REPORT) 
 
REF: STATE 55422 
 
¶1.  In response to reftel, the Embassy is aware of four (4) 
claims of United States persons that may be outstanding 
against the Government of Italy. 
 
CLAIMS 
====== 
 
¶2.  a.  Claimant A 
 
b.  1974 - 1980 
 
c.  Claimant A, a U.S. citizen who died in September 1997, 
alleged that real property in and around Rome, held by a 
number of Italian companies he owned, was expropriated by the 
City of Rome beginning in January 1974 and continuing through 
September 1980.  The court-appointed "Special Administrator" 
of the estate of Claimant A has continued to pursue this 
claim and maintains that the City of Rome failed to 
compensate Claimant A the fair market value of the property 
in contravention of the 1948 Treaty of Friendship, Commerce 
and Navigation (FCN) between Italy and the United States. 
Claimant A initiated legal action in Italian courts in 1983, 
seeking fair market value compensation for his property.  The 
trial court dismissed this claim.   Claimant A appealed 
unsuccessfully.  His case was finally rejected in 1994 by 
Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation. 
 
The Department of State has taken steps to try to evaluate 
and promote resolution of this claim.  As part of its 
consideration, the Department has, inter alia, sought 
information from the Special Administrator concerning 
Claimant A's claim, including the nature of Claimant A's 
ownership interests in the property and in the companies that 
apparently held direct ownership of the property and urged 
the Government of Italy to negotiate a resolution of this 
matter directly with the Special Administrator of Claimant 
A's estate. 
 
The Special Administrator visited Rome in May 2001 and 
requested the assistance of the U.S. Embassy.  Embassy 
officials helped put the Special Administrator in contact 
with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Legal Department, which 
has responsibility for Claimant A's case.  In 2002, the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the U.S. Embassy in Rome 
that the Italian Government views this case as closed. 
 
In June 2003, the Special Administrator and a consultant to 
the Administrator met with the Ambassador at their request. 
The Special Administrator and the consultant asked the 
Embassy to send a diplomatic note to the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs requesting a review of the case, which the Embassy 
did upon Department instructions. 
 
In a December 29, 2003, diplomatic note (received late 
January 2004), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs argued that 
the property subject to expropriation belonged to two Italian 
companies, of which claimant A was the major stockholder, but 
not to Claimant A himself.  Since the entities in question 
were Italian and, therefore, subject to Italian law, the MFA 
argued that the United States could not espouse the claim 
under the 1948 FCN Treaty.  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
also contended that the United States could not espouse the 
claim of an Italian citizen.  Claimant A, born in Italy, 
retained his Italian citizenship, even after he had acquired 
American citizenship.  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
therefore reaffirmed its conclusion that the case is closed. 
 
In autumn 2003, the Special Administrator and an informal 
advisor contacted the White House and the Nevada delegation 
of Congress to inform them about the case.  In February 2004, 
the Embassy informed the Office of the General Counsel, the 
White House, as well as the Office of the Legal Adviser, 
State Department, of the December 29, 2003, Italian 
diplomatic note.  The Office of the Legal Adviser, Department 
of State, shared with the Special Administrator the December 
29, 2003, diplomatic note. 
 
After further review of the December 29, 2003, diplomatic 
note and in close consultation with the Special 
Administrator, the State Department issued instructions to 
the Embassy to send another diplomatic note to the Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs responding to specific points and again 
requesting a review of the case.  This diplomatic note was 
sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in November 2004, and 
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided a brief response 
dated March 15, 2005, reiterating the Government of Italy's 
 
ROME 00001229  002 OF 003 
 
 
position that the case is closed.  The Embassy informed the 
State Department's Office of the Legal Adviser of the March 
15, 2005, Italian diplomatic note, and the Office of the 
Legal Adviser shared the note with the Special Administrator. 
 
On March 17, 2005, the Special Administrator visited Embassy 
Rome.  Embassy officers had previously secured appointments 
for the Special Administrator with officials in the Office of 
the Prime Minister and the Foreign Ministry, but the Special 
Administrator subsequently asked that the meetings be 
canceled because of the March 4 Calipari (Iraq hostage) 
incident.  The Office of the Legal Adviser is in the process 
of reviewing the Special Administrator's request that the 
U.S. Government espouse the claim against the Italian 
Government. 
 
In April 2007, the Embassy received a letter from Senate 
Majority Leader Harry Reid notifying the Embassy that the 
Special Administrator planned to come to Rome and requesting 
that Embassy officials assist Estate representatives in 
obtaining an appointment at the MFA to discuss the Estate's 
claims.  Despite a letter from the Ambassador requesting that 
they meet with Estate representatives, MFA officials declined 
to do so. 
 
¶3.  a.  Claimants B 
 
b.  1960-1972 
 
c.  Claimants B claim the City of Bari expropriated 22,000 
square meters of land from them and paid for only 10,000 
square meters.  The City states that the Claimants must get 
additional payment from the party that built on the land, the 
Instituto Autonomo Case Populari (IACP).  The IACP apparently 
wants to pay a much lower price than the Claimants' lawyer is 
seeking.  Claimants' attorney brought suit.  In July 1998, 
the Bari court requested a new survey to determine the exact 
size of the area expropriated and a new estimate of the value 
of the property.  A court decision was rendered in September 
2002, in which the U.S. claimants were awarded 1.89 million 
euros, and an additional 18,000 euros for legal expenses. 
According to Italian law, the affected party, IACP, may 
appeal the decision. 
 
Consul General Naples was contacted in November 2002 by the 
attorney representing the American claimants.  The attorney 
asked for Consul General Naples' intercession with IACP. 
Consul General Naples advised the attorney that the Consulate 
could not interfere in the legal process.  Records do not 
indicate why the attorney sought Consul General Naples 
assistance, since the claimants had received a favorable 
ruling in September 2002.  Consul General Naples has not had 
any contact with the claimants since 2002. 
 
¶4.  a.  Claimant C 
 
b.  1965-1974 
 
c.  Claimant C attempted to purchase approximately 250,000 
square meters of land from the city of Avezzano, not far from 
Rome, for an American university campus.  According to 
Claimant C, the land was worth $20,000 in the early 1970s but 
would be worth approximately $30 million today.  According to 
Claimant C, in 1975-1976 the City of Avezzano accepted 
payment for the land, but then failed to deliver title. 
According to Claimant C, it won a favorable ruling for 
damages from a court of first instance in 1986, which the 
city of Avezzano appealed. 
 
Claimant C notes it won the appeal in 1990, but the city of 
Avezzano has still not complied with the court's judgment. 
Various Embassy offices have played a facilitative role over 
the years in this case, but have not intervened directly. 
The Embassy is not aware of any developments in this case for 
several years. 
 
¶5.  a.  Claimant D 
 
b.  1998 
 
c.  Claimant D claims the city of Bari expropriated property 
owned by her in 1998.  In 2006, the claimant advised the 
Department of State that she was in the process of appealing 
an administrative tribunal's valuation of the property 
seized.  The Office of the Legal Adviser, U.S. Embassy in 
Rome, and Consul General in Naples are working to learn more 
about the case, including what kind of assistance, if any, 
the claimant wants from the U.S. Government.  It is unclear 
 
ROME 00001229  003 OF 003 
 
 
whether or not this claim is the same, or is related to, the 
claim of Claimants B, detailed above. 
 
IDENTITIES OF CLAIMANTS 
======================= 
 
¶6. Identities of claimants are protected under the Privacy 
Act of 1973 and cannot be released without permission of the 
claimant. 
 
Claimant A 
---------- 
Name: Pier Talenti 
Citizenship: Naturalized American Citizen (May 15, 1961) 
Privacy Act Waiver: Unknown 
 
Claimants B 
----------- 
Name: Francesco Scavelli, Antonio Scavelli, Germano Scavelli, 
and Bernardo Scavelli 
Citizenship: American 
Privacy Act Waiver: None 
 
Claimant C 
---------- 
Name: American University of Rome, Inc., an Ohio nonprofit 
corporation (Contact: Mr. Gioia) 
Citizenship: American (by virtue of its Ohio incorporation) 
Privacy Act Waiver: None 
 
Claimant D 
---------- 
Name:  Maria La Cedra 
Citizenship: American 
Privacy Act Waiver: Unknown 
Spogli