Italy's top court clears Milan prosecutors in Eni Nigeria case

MILAN, June 18 (Reuters) - Italy's top court on Thursday fully acquitted two Milan prosecutors accused of failing to file documents that could have supported energy group Eni's position in an international corruption case.

Eni, Shell, and all other defendants had already been acquitted in March 2021 in what was described as the industry's largest corruption case, linked to the $1.3 billion acquisition of a Nigerian oilfield more than a decade ago.

The Court of Cassation, Italy's highest, overturned a lower court ruling and acquitted prosecutors Fabio De Pasquale and Sergio Spadaro, saying "the offence does not exist".

"My colleague Fabio Federico and I are truly happy. This ruling brings justice after many years of suffering", said Massimo Di Noia, one of the prosecutors' lawyers, adding the prosecutor general at the Court of Cassation had also sought a full acquittal.

Judges in the northern city of Brescia in October 2025 had upheld an eight-month prison sentence, finding the two prosecutors had failed in their duty to file documents that could have aided the defence.

Neither De Pasquale nor Spadaro was available for comment after the ruling, which followed an investigation that began five years ago.

During the appeal in Brescia, Spadaro said "there was no refusal, there was no omission" and that the prosecutors had acted "according to conscience and the law".

The Milan court that acquitted Eni and Shell had said the prosecutors failed to file, among trial documents, a video recorded by a former external lawyer for Eni that it deemed relevant to the case.

The Brescia court has jurisdiction over cases involving judges and prosecutors from nearby Milan.

(Reporting by Emilio Parodi. Editing by Mark Potter)