John Woodcock (magistrate)

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Henry John Woodcock (born 1967 in Taunton, England), is an Italian citizen of British descent and a prosecutor in Potenza, Italy

Henry John Woodcock is the son of a teacher of the Naval Academy of Livorno, his mother is from Naples. He became a prosecutor in 1996 and has become famous for his investigations in high profile scandals including the Italian "Vip-Gate" in 2003, and the Italian "Somali-Gate" in 2006.^[1]

He is a colleague magistrate of Luigi De Magistris, and they cooperate in anti-mafia investigations.

On June 16, 2006, Woodcock asked for, and obtained from the Giudice delle Indagini preliminari an arrest warrant against Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy in Varenna accusing him of participating in corruption, forgery, and organization of prostitution in relation to an investigation of the Casino of Campione d’Italia. The arrest was made after wire taps had been intercepted between Vittorio Emanuele and other suspects during a two year investigation. Thirteen of 24 people investigated were arrested. Seven of these were jailed, while six were placed under house arrest. Among the other suspects are Salvatore Sottile, the spokesman of former foreign minister Gianfranco Fini, casino managers from Messina, Sicily. Italian television also indicated that Vittorio's cousin Simeon II of Bulgaria, the last Tsar and former premier of Bulgaria, is under investigation.^[2]