JC Electronics Masks, the $100 Million Transaction: The Case

The JC Electronics affair was a central topic of Giuseppe Conte 's hearing before the Covid Commission on August 6, 2026. At the center is a €100 million settlement to settle a dispute over face masks, and a report submitted to the Rome Prosecutor's Office.

The blocked supply and the lawsuit against the State

JC Electronics Italia is the company of Dario Bianchi , an entrepreneur who has been heard several times by the Commission and who, in its hearings, became one of the main accusers of the management of the pandemic.

During the emergency, the company received a contract to supply masks. The commissioner, led by Domenico Arcuri, blocked the supply and terminated the contract, deeming the devices noncompliant.

The company sued the state. In the first instance, the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Health were ordered to pay 203 million euros , plus late payment interest.

The 100 million transaction

Before the appeal hearing, in October 2025, the Meloni government signed a settlement with JC Electronics: 100 million euros to settle the matter, with the approval of the State Attorney's Office.

According to Conte: "A hastily drafted decree with a €100 million fund was approved for a transaction that was finalized two days later."

"A €100 million settlement without waiting for the preliminary ruling is a legal and economic absurdity," he added. "They were waiting for the suspension; it would have completely overturned their negotiating power."

The transaction became public in July 2026, with Health Minister Orazio Schillaci 's response to a question from Democratic Party senators.

The anonymous ten-page report

At the hearing, Conte reported that on Monday he had delivered to the Rome Prosecutor's Office a report received anonymously, "drafted on April 14, 2022," with "the names blacked out but all qualifications redacted."

“Reading this report, it would emerge that all the packages deposited at a warehouse in Pomezia were not corresponding; they were not masks with effective filtering,” he said.

Conte cited a consignment of 7.857.000 pieces , present both in the minutes and in the ruling of the Rome Court on which the settlement agreement was based.

"Out of civic conscience, I reported this to the Prosecutor's Office: there's a possibility that €100 million was handed over to a private company for masks that didn't meet the declared specifications," he explained.

The formal notice to pay

Conte has warned state administrations, particularly the Ministry of Health, to suspend payments: "I trust the payment order has not yet been executed."

"The Prime Minister's Office must clarify how it was possible to give €100 million to a private entrepreneur with a very modest turnover, without waiting for the appeal," he added.

JC Electronics' response

The company responded in a statement: "The ten-page document that President Conte refers to, which he received anonymously, is nothing new: it has already been brought to court by the state, along with the dossier of the military personnel of the Commissioner's Office, and has emerged unscathed from judicial scrutiny."

JC Electronics recalls that the Court of Rome, with ruling no. 10918/2025 of July 21, 2025, rejected the State Attorney's Office's complaint of forgery against the certification of Aoxing AX-KF95 masks, ordering the administrations to pay the costs.

The positive outcome of the tests, the note continues, was certified by INAIL and by the Customs Agency's expert report, with a leak test compliant with the UNI EN 149:2009 standard.

The role of lawyer Luca Di Donna

The company's account also includes lawyer Luca Di Donna , a former colleague of Conte. According to what entrepreneur Dario Bianchi told the Commission, he offered to act as an intermediary to facilitate orders for face masks, asking for a percentage of the turnover.

Conte noted that the CEO, who had been interviewed several times by the Commission, "for the first time brought up lawyer Di Donna, whom he had never mentioned before," and only after the transaction had already been signed.

What happens now

The documents cited by Conte are now at the Rome Prosecutor's Office , which received them on Monday. Commission President Marco Lisei clarified that the transaction issue is outside the scope of the investigation: "We cannot investigate events that occurred after the pandemic."

Full reconstruction of the hearing: Conte in the Covid Commission, what he said in 5 hours.

FAQ

How much is the transaction disputed by Conte worth?

€100 million, signed in October 2025 to settle the dispute between the State and JC Electronics over face masks.

What does the report filed by Conte contain?

According to Conte, a ten-page report shows that the packages of masks stored in Pomezia did not match the declared characteristics.

What does JC Electronics say?

That the document is not new and has already been assessed in court, citing ruling no. 10918/2025 of July 21, 2025, and the findings of INAIL and the Customs Agency.