Meloni’s bank account was accessed by a “disloyal” rogue employee.

A bank has publicly apologized after admitting that a rogue worker had accessed Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s account.

Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s biggest bank, said it “deeply regretted” the embarrassing security breach, which targeted the accounts of thousands of celebrities, politicians and businessmen.

The Turin-based lender said its systems had identified a “disloyal employee” who was snooping on its customers’ bank accounts.

In a statement shared on Sunday, Intesa said: “This must never happen again.”

It notified the Italian data protection authority, fired the employee and filed a complaint as an injured party. However, he said there was “no cyber security issue”.

It is the latest twist in a scandal that has gripped Italy amid speculation over whether the breach was linked to efforts to destabilize the government.

The bank clerk accused of spying on 3,500 customer accounts is understood to be Vincenzo Coviello. It was based in one of Intesa’s branches in southern Italy. Intesa declined to name the employee in its apology.

According to a police investigation, the 52-year-old allegedly breached customers’ personal accounts more than 6,000 times in the period from February 2022.

Among the customers affected were Arianna Meloni, Ms. Meloni’s sister and secretary of the Brothers of Italy party; Raffaele Fitto, Minister of European Affairs of Italy, and the sleepy story of Diego Maradona, the late Argentinian footballer.