TISG's books showed €90M of cash; the bank account held €2M

Giovanni Costantino, founder and owner of yacht builder TISG - The Italian Sea Group, resigned from the board in July 2026 after 17 years, alleging that top management had created a 'parallel company' with manipulated financial figures. KPMG's forensic due diligence — which Costantino commissioned — was being handed to the public prosecutor and Italy's markets regulator Consob. 'Following the discovery of a far-reaching fraud, it was necessary to take extraordinary measures,' he said of a negotiated crisis resolution that continues for creditors.

The arithmetic that ended it: TISG's September figures, released in November, showed €60M of cash, and Costantino's own forecasts put January at about €90M. In February the company realised it lacked the funds to pay salaries — the actual balance was just over €2M. Substantial off-budget expenditure had circumvented the company's controls; several senior executives were suspended as a precaution, and chairman Filippo Menchelli and vice-chairman Marco Carniani resigned. Debt stands at €400M, after the company had disclosed in February that it was carrying cost overruns on its contracts.

Costantino defended his oversight — the company had paid 'considerable expense' for a management-control system of the kind used by the world's largest multinationals — but conceded that when top managers collude to bypass it, 'there is no possible defence'. The interview also revisited the €80M Perini Navi acquisition of 2021, judged too high by rival bidders, and the 2024 Bayesian shipwreck, which he said cost the brand three clients.

€400M of debt, cost overruns across its contract book, and the chairman and vice-chairman forced out amid a forensic probe.

The cash gap was two orders of magnitude — about €90M forecast against just over €2M in the bank when payroll came due.

Control systems bought at multinational grade were circumvented by the very senior managers they were meant to monitor.

Cost overruns on the contract book had been running for months before the February payroll shock surfaced them.

Reported cash is a claim, not a balance: tie board figures to the bank statement, because forged forecasts pass every meeting they are presented at.

The board stays on in an interim capacity until September 10, 2026, when a general meeting will set its new composition; KPMG's findings go to prosecutors and Consob, and Costantino says judicial authorities will determine culpability while the negotiated resolution with creditors proceeds.