Michele Acquarone, former director of the Giro d'Italia, has been cleared of fraud by a Milan court after a six-year investigation and trial.

According to "La Presse" news agency and other Italian media reports, former company accountant Laura Bertinotti was sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison for misappropriating large sums of money.

All of the other defendants were also cleared. Bertinotti has the right to appeal the sentence.

Acquarone, who helped modernize the image of the Giro d'Italia during his tenure as event organizer, was fired by parent company RCS Media Group in October 2013 after an Italian media company discovered misappropriation of funds RCS Sport accounts. 2006 to 15 million euros of company and public funds disappeared after a discreet and gradual outflow of funds from RCS Sport's various event accounts between 2013.

Acquarone always claimed that the money had been withdrawn in cash over the years without his authority and that the central accounting office of RCS Media Group was responsible for managing the cash flow; an internal investigation by RCS Sport failed to reveal where the cash had gone, The police recovered only a small amount.

Acquarone told Cycling News that signatures and initials on documents had been falsified. He was removed as chief operating officer and director of the Giro d'Italia, and the RCS suggested he should and could have known about the misappropriation of funds.

Bertinotti disappeared after the misappropriation was discovered and eventually started a start-up company in Switzerland, according to her LinkedIn page. She now appears to be based in her hometown of Arona in northern Italy, where her father was once mayor; the judge in charge of the case ordered the seizure of 700,000 euros of Bertinotti's assets while RCS Sport and the Milan Marathon fought a civil suit for compensation.

Acquarone, who now works for d-share digital publishing, has always fought to clear his name. When news broke that he had been cleared of any wrongdoing, he posted a short message on Twitter. 'Better late than never...small joy after 6 years of great pain. Thank you to all who have supported me over the past few years."

He also wrote: "I am grateful to all the people who have supported me over the past few years.