Fiat chiefs face court

ROME: Fiat executives are also caught in a scandal that has rocked the Italian car giant. The chairman and chief financial officer will stand trial next month on charges of falsifying records and illegal financing of political parties.

Chairman Cesare Romiti and financial director Francesco Paulo Mattioli will appear in a Turin court on January 15.

Prosecutors have conducted a long investigation into alleged false bookkeeping in the 1980s to establish secret accounts abroad. The accounts were allegedly used for kickbacks to politicians.