Stolen DNA

Tonino Lamborghini denies illegitimate daughter

Tonino Lamborghini is one of the richest men in Italy. Flavia Borzone claims that her mother, the opera singer Rosalba Colosimo, had an affair with Tonino at the end of the 1980s.

(Bild: picturedesk.com/Marco Provvisionato / PA)

The Italian industrialist Tonino Lamborghini (76) denies in an open letter that he is the father of a beautician from Naples. Flavia Borzone claims that she is Lamborghini's illegitimate daughter. Stolen DNA traces are supposed to prove this.

A trial is currently underway at a court in Bologna, where she wants to present evidence for her claims. The letter was published on Monday by the Milan daily newspaper "Corriere della Sera".

In the letter, Lamborghini emphasized that he was deeply saddened by the "unscrupulousness" of the 36-year-old's false allegations in court. "I will fight for the truth until the end," said the entrepreneur, who accused Flavia Borzone of "opportunism". Her sole aim was to gain "notoriety and money".

Big name in the Italian motor industry
Tonino Lamborghini is one of the richest men in Italy. His father Ferruccio founded the tractor manufacturer Lamborghini in Cento near Bologna in 1948, which later became a car company and, together with Ferrari, is now one of the most illustrious names in the Italian motor industry. The industrialist has five children, including the singer Elettra Lamborghini.

Flavia Borzone claims that her mother, the opera singer Rosalba Colosimo, had an affair with Tonino at the end of the 1980s. Although the Lamborghini heir has admitted to the relationship with the then 17-year-old, he denies that Flavia was born out of it in 1988. The beautician's claim that she was Lamborghini's biological daughter made headlines in Italy and led to her and her mother being charged with defamation. In 2021, the two were banned from making any further public statements. In addition, she and her mother each had to pay 30,000 euros in compensation. But the two women did not give up.

DNA traces "stolen" from daughter
Because Lamborghini refused to take a DNA test, Flavia Borzone hired four private detectives to prove paternity. At a concert given by Lamborghini's daughter Elettra, they pocketed a straw that the artist had used to drink a smoothie, as reported in the Italian media. According to Borzone's lawyers, the DNA traces should prove that the beautician from Naples and Elettra Lamborghini are half-sisters.

Tonino Lamborghini was outraged and argued that the straw had come into Borzone's possession illegally. He therefore argued in his letter that it could not be used as evidence.