Santanchè due to stand trial in March.

A Milan judge on Friday ordered Italy's tourism minister Daniela Santanchè to stand trial for alleged accounting fraud at her former publishing group Visibilia.

Santanchè, a prominent member of prime minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing Fratelli d'Italia party, faces accusations that she and 15 others were aware of alleged falsification of financial statements at the company.

The 16 people ordered to stand trial include the minister's partner Dimitri Kunz, her former partner Canio Mazzaro, her sister Fiorella Garnero and her niece Silvia Garnero.

Prosecutors allege that the balance sheets were manipulated between 2016 and 2022 to hide millions of euro of losses and enable the company to stay in business, news agency ANSA reports.

Santanchè, 63, sold her stake in Visibilia before becoming tourism minister more than two years ago and has denied any wrongdoing.

The trial has been scheduled in Milan on 20 March.

Santanchè's lawyer Nicolò Pelanda on Friday said the decision was one "that we expected but that leaves a bitter taste in our mouths", adding that his client's innocence would be established in court.

Santanchè is the second minister in Meloni's cabinet to stand trial after transport minister and deputy premier Matteo Salvini who was acquitted last month in a long-running case over his refusal to let a migrant rescue boat dock in Italy in 2019.

Opposition parties on Friday called for Santanchè to resign however the minister has repeatedly vowed to clear her name and, so far, has retained the support of Meloni.

However, during a press conference earlier this month, Meloni refused to say whether the embattled minister would remain in her post if ordered to stand trial, telling reporters: "Let's see what the judiciary decides and then I will obviously speak to Minister Santanchè".

In an article published early on Saturday, Santanchè told Corriere della Sera that she was "very calm" in relation to the court ruling, which she had expected.

“I haven’t heard from Giorgia, she hasn’t called me, I imagine she has many important things to do”, Santanchè told the Corriere, adding: "If my prime minister were to ask me to step back, I will certainly do it".

Photo credit: Alessia Pierdomenico / Shutterstock.com.