A court in Verona is hearing the case of a 51-year-old man from Trieste, who is charged with trying to blackmail jam maker Zuegg. Prosecutors say he demanded €100,000 and threatened to put poisoned jars in supermarkets.

The man is an IT specialist. The trial entered a new stage on 20 October. He is in prison in Padua, serving a total of 7 years for other cases. If he is found guilty in this case too, he faces another sentence.

The case dates from March 2022. Investigators say the man sent Zuegg several emails from an address he created for the purpose, using the false name Alessio Ferrari. The company, which is based in Verona and makes jams and fruit products, at first did not reply and did not give in.

More emails arrived a few days later. The sender claimed he had already poisoned a jar sold in a supermarket. As proof, he sent a video of himself opening a jar and adding thallium sulfate, a highly toxic substance.

The company and the authorities took the threat seriously, and the affected jars were pulled from sale as a precaution. Zuegg filed a complaint with the carabinieri. Company representatives say the recall cost it money, because several retail chains took its products off their shelves.

A few days later, prosecutors say, the man also contacted the Verona firm Martinelli. Using another fake email address, he sent 3 messages claiming he had injected rat poison into bottles of beer in its shop. He asked for €30,000 and threatened to do it again if he did not get the money. Martinelli alerted the authorities straight away.

The threats began even before the jam case. A woman who runs a horse farm near Trieste received messages saying her animals would be poisoned if she did not pay.

The investigation began in Trieste. Police traced the suspect's internet connections and the VPN service he used. That led them to the later emails to the two firms in the Verona area, and to the man himself.

He is suspected of more than 200 attempts to blackmail companies in Italy and abroad.