Palumbo Group boss Antonio Palumbo and his son Raffaele have been sentenced to six years in prison in a waste dumping case.
The verdict was handed down by a court in Messina and relates to offences in Sicily, the Time of Malta reported.
The shipbuilders and five other men were found guilty of facilitating illegal dumping between 2011 and 2013, which they deny.
A company spokesman said they would appeal the decision.
“It’s hard to understand what prompted this sentence,” Palumbo lawyers said, describing it as “objectively unacceptable”.
“While prosecutors failed to prove a single one of their accusations, we presented documents detailing the entire series of events and which proved there was no illegal dumping.”
Palumbo has consistently maintained that the case is politically motivated.
In 2011, forestry department officials matched dumped waste samples to ship blasting materials at Palumbo’s Messina facility.
The Messina court also found the companies Palumbo Spa, La Futura Sud and Stabvia Yachting & Coating guilty.
A company spokesperson stressed that the group’s Maltese business interests were completely unaffected by the legal wrangling.
