ROME - Reform Minister Maria Elena Boschi has denied claims that she had a conflict of interest over the recent rescue of four Italian banks, including one that her father was vice president of, before a vote of no-confidence in her over the issue.

  "My father was removed from his post and fined," she told the Lower House in reference to her father's position at Banca Etruria. "There is no favouritism in our Italy". 

  To defend herself, she added that she and other members of her family had thousands of shares in Banca Etruria that are now worthless. "I possessed 1,557 shares that were worth 1,500 euros," she said. 

  Small investors are those that have been hit hardest by the scandal, with a 68-year-old pensioner from Civitavecchia committing suicide last week, having lost 100,000 euros.

  Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who is supporting Boschi, one of his closest allies, has said that he would be in favour of a parliamentary inquiry into the failure of the banks.

  However, Boschi said that her father should be punished if he committed any crimes. "I'm proud to be part of a government that expresses a very simple concept - those who do wrong, must pay, whoever they are, without any differences or favouritism," she said. "If my father did wrong, he must pay".

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