Less than a week after Italian actress-turned-artist Gina Lollobrigida died at age 95, controversy has arisen about her fortune—namely, where has it gone? Multiple people have staked a claim to her estate, and there are fears that most of her money has been spent, even though the screen icon was assigned a court-appointed guardian in 2021, the UK Times reported this week. Read on to find out the key players in the drama, why the actress's fortune caused she and her son to become estranged in recent years, and who's accused of stealing from her.
Lollobrigida's estate reportedly includes a villa on the Appian Way, an apartment in Rome, a shop in the town of Pietrasanta in northern Tuscany, a one-bedroom apartment in Monte Carlo, a collection of jewels and antique furniture and paintings by Russian, Flemish and Roman artists.
In 2014, Lollobrigida's estate was estimated to be worth $37 million. A collection of her jewelry alone fetched almost $4 million at auction, the Daily Mail reported.
Lollobrigida's ex-husband is "keeping an eye on the proceedings," the Times reported. Spanish businessman Francisco Javier Rigau y Rafols married Lollobrigida by proxy in 2010. He was 43 years her junior. Lollobrigida claimed the marriage had taken place without her knowledge and accused Rigau of trying to steal her fortune; a Spanish court cleared him. "I won't inherit anything, but there should be an investigation into Gina's assets because her patrimony has disappeared," said Rigau.
Rigau, who said he planned to attend Lollobrigida's funeral, reportedly clashed with her long-time friend Adriano Aragozzini at the hospital in Rome where Lollobrigida passed away. "We quarreled immediately, at a time which should have been of respect and silence, because he said to me, with a certain aggressiveness, 'You must keep away from this woman, because she has been robbed," said Aragozzini. "Inexplicable. Incredible."
Lollobrigida had one son, Milko Skofic Jr., with Milko Skofic Sr., a Slovenian physician. She and Skofic divorced in 1971. Mother and son had become estranged in recent years over her fortune. Milko Jr. accused his mother's assistant, Andrea Piazzolla, of stealing from her, the Mirror reported.
Her son obtained a court order preventing her from using her money for anything but daily expenses and asked the Italian Supreme Court to freeze her assets. In October 2022, the court ruled in his favor, claiming Lollobrigida was "vulnerable" to exploitation due to her "weakened sense of reality," the Daily Mail reported.
Piazzolla, 34, was her secretary and constant companion during the last 13 years of Lollobrigida's life. But prosecutors have accused him of embezzling $3.2 million from the actress between 2013 and 2018. Lollobrigida defended him and denied he was defrauding her.
In November 2021, Lollobrigida was interviewed by Italian TV channel Rai1 about the legal tussle over her money. She said she felt "humiliated" and wished the court would "let me grow old and die in peace." Milko said he was just trying to protect his mother.
