Alexander Pereira, superintendent of Florence’s Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, has resigned amid an ongoing fraud investigation into his use of the company’s credit card.

According to reporting from Ansa.it, Pereira sent his resignation letter to Florence Mayor Dario Nardella, who also serves as the president of the Foundation and sits on its board.

Auditors have questioned expenses of € 60,000 in 2021 and € 14,000 during the first four months of 2022. In May of 2022, La Reppublica reported that Prosecutor Mondera Acheropita had begun investigating the expenses, including a restaurant bill in Ibiza and visits to a butcher and greengrocer, among other shops.

OperaWire reported on the investigation in early February 2023, including Pereira’s statement.

“I inform you that I have received guarantee information from the Florence prosecutor’s office with which the existence of an investigation against me. In substance, it is a matter of the facts already widely reported by the media in recent times. I will reiterate and clarify to the judicial authority what I have always maintained in every forum, including the control commission of the Municipality of Florence and the board of auditors of the Foundation, namely that these are expenses all connected and necessary for the exercise of my mandate as superintendent and artistic director of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino,” he said.

Pereira joined the Maggio in August 2019.