Baku-APA. Italy's Equal Opportunities and Sports Minister Josefa Idem resigned on Monday amid allegations of tax evasion, APA reports quoting Xinhua.
"When I talked to President Letta (Prime Minister Enrico Letta) I had already made the decision to resign," Idem, a West-German-born sprint canoer who won five Olympic medals, said in a statement after meeting the Italian premier.
"But I still wanted to inform him of the little relevance of the accusations," she added.
According to media reports, Idem maintained two residences, one apparently outfitted as a commercial gym, while avoiding paying the related taxes.
In an interview published on Corriere della Sera newspaper on Monday, she said that the accusations were pretentious and were equal to a "massacre."
Idem claimed that she had made an innocent mistake as she had presented the proper documentation two years earlier.
"All of this is simply absurd. From one week to the next I have gone from a respected person to a criminal," she said.
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