One month before the European elections, a judicial earthquake shocks Genoa and Liguria: the governor Giovanni Toti, accused of corruption in the exercise of his office and for acts contrary to his official duties, ends up under house arrest in an investigation in which 25 are under investigation and 10, including the President of the Region, are the recipients of precautionary measures.
Video Corruption, Toti: ‘We are very calm’
Among them, Toti’s head of Cabinet Matteo Cozzani – accused of aggravated electoral corruption because it was committed with the aim of facilitating the Cammarata di Riesi mafia clan (the 400 Riesi residents residing in Liguria would have secured the votes) and of corruption for the exercise of the function -, the entrepreneurs Aldo and Roberto Spinelli and the CEO of Iren and former president of the Port Authority of Genoa Paolo Emilio Signorini: the doors of prison were opened for him on charges of corruption.
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The accusations are contained in the over 600 pages of the order issued by the investigating judge of Genoa Paola Faggiani at the end of the investigations by the Financial Police. A blow that came early, as soon as the notification of the precautionary measures was completed, with the governor reached by financiers in a hotel in Sanremo. News that found most people unprepared, that scared many and that made some, like councilor Ferruccio Sansa, say ‘I said so’.
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The investigation is the ‘offshoot’ of an investigation carried out by the prosecutor’s office of La Spezia which issued around ten orders of precautionary custody, one of which again against the head of cabinet of governor Toti Matteo Cozzani, accused when he was mayor of Portovenere of corruption and disturbed freedom of enchantments. There was something in the papers of the La Spezia investigation, some papers that ended up straight into the hands of Genoa’s chief prosecutor Nicola Piacente. A transmission of documents that led to the measures carried out today.
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Toti was in Sanremo this morning, at the Lolly hotel because he had to attend an early press conference with Briatore in Ventimiglia. The Guardia di Finanza, in plain clothes, waited in the hall for him to get ready and then took him to Genoa where he was interviewed for a few hours. “We are very calm” he said as he then returned to his apartment where he lives, in Piazza Piccapietra.
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Corruption for the exercise of the function and for acts contrary to the duties of office for the governor, therefore, who according to the investigators would have accepted “the promises of various loans and received 74,100 euros” from entrepreneurs Aldo and Roberto Spinelli through the Committee Giovanni Toti. In exchange for the funding, according to the prosecution’s hypothesis, the governor would have undertaken to “facilitate” and “find a solution” in favor of Spinelli who, writes the investigating judge, was “perfectly aware of the need for money on the part of Giovanni Toti in conjunction with the electoral competitions”. In this story we talk about money, electoral needs, entrepreneurial expansion, beaches, supermarkets and port areas but also about the charms of Paolo Emilio Signorini who, according to the investigators, to guarantee his intervention he received cash from entrepreneurs, extra-luxury stays in Montecarlo, jewellery, designer bags and chips to bet at the Casino. Beyond all this there is the shadow of Cosa Nostra, with the Cammarata clan of Riesi that can bring together the 400 votes of the Riesi community of Genoa: “get a few votes in Certosa – says Cozzani when intercepted – and I the next day I’ll have you hire two, three at the port.” And there is Giandomenico Cianci, also accused of corruption: ‘king of preferences’, regional councilor of the Toti List and administrator of condominiums in Rapallo, he allegedly asked for votes from an entrepreneur linked to the ‘ndrangheta, now deceased, in exchange for jobs at the condominiums he manages. In short, “the bomb has exploded” as Ferruccio Sansa, former candidate in the regional elections won by Toti and his main opponent, said. A bomb that leaves Liguria, always pragmatic, wondering what will happen tomorrow.
For further information Agenzia ANSA The investigating judge: “Toti sold off his role to be re-elected” – News – Ansa.it In order to “obtain the election or re-election” he would have “sold off his role and his activity in exchange for funding, thus abdicating their important institutional duties”. (HANDLE)
In addition to the politics that pulls the pages of the precautionary order from one side to the other and the position of Mayor Bucci who says he is “in shock” but also that “he will continue to work”, comes the intervention of the Minister of the Seals Nordio who says he is perplexed “not on the moment in which the precautionary measure is triggered with respect to the imminence of the elections” but on “a measure with respect to the time in which the crime was committed and the investigation began”. It’s from five months ago, December 27th. The order only arrived yesterday and was carried out this morning”. Words that do not extinguish the controversy, which has just begun.
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