The Italian multi-millionaire business man was at the time being investigated by Italian prosecutors for his role in receiving millions of dollars in loans for his gambling enterprise Atlantis/Bet Plus. When he was arrested, he told investigators that he was entitled to diplomatic immunity because he was a holder of a diplomatic passport from Dominica.

He was subsequently charged with making false claims to investigators. However the Milan court has now ruled that Corallo did not misrepresent his status and that he was in fact a holder of a diplomatic passport issued by the Roosevelt Skerrit government in Dominica.

The passport was issued on his appointment as ambassador to the FAO, and at the time of his arrest he had waived his right to immunity so as not to hinder the investigation. In the more recent court ruling, which was expedited on Corallo’s request the court ruled that the prosecutors’ claim that he had made false statements were “unfounded.”

It ruled that the diplomatic process was already started at the time of his arrest and although it was not yet concluded the result was that “the appointment as ambassador had already occurred.”

Corallo recently surrendered to Italian authorities after being on the run for more than a year and making Interpol’s list of the ‘Top Ten Most Wanted’ suspects in the world.

It was not immediately clear how the most recent ruling would affect the investigations concerning the illicit receipt of loans from Banco Popolare de Milano, which is currently underway. The investigationshave already led to the arrest of the bank’s president Maximum Ponzellini.