Italy Police Search Shipbuilding Firms Linked to Fincantieri

Italian finance police searched offices of several companies working for state-controlled shipbuilder Fincantieri, as part of an investigation into suspected corruption, fraud and worker exploitation, the prosecutor's office in Venice said on Wednesday.

The prosecutor added in a statement that 34 people were under investigation for alleged "systematic exploitation" of foreign workers - mainly from Bangladesh and Albania - in shipyards in the port city of Marghera, close to Venice, working on orders for Fincantieri.

The searches involved 19 different companies in seven different Italian regions and 12 Fincantieri managers, the statement said, without specifying whether the executives were under investigation.

Fincantieri was not immediately available for comment.

Reporting by Riccardo Bastianello