Home » Dissesto Catania, Corte dei Conti condemns Bianco and former councilors

Dissesto Catania, Corte dei Conti condemns Bianco and former councilors

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The Jurisdictional Section of the Court of Auditors of Sicily sentenced the former mayor of Catania Enzo Bianco to compensation from the Municipality for 24,339 euros as part of the tax investigations on the financial failure of the institution.

The collegial measure reforms the decree of the single judge who ordered a compensation of 48 thousand euros and the legal interdict for 10 years, which was canceled.

The members of the council in office between 2013 and 2018 and the then board of auditors were sentenced with Bianco. Even the councilors have had sentences reduced, from 7 thousand to 25 thousand euros, and the cancellation of the ban. For the auditors, the compensation for damages was reduced, but the interdict from the activity was confirmed for five years. The convictions concern the then councilors: Luigi Bosco (22,148 euros), Rosario D’Agata (22,148), Giuseppe Girlando (22,148 euros), Orazio Antonio Licandro (11,074 euros), Salvatore Di Salvo (22,148 euros), Marco Consoli Magnano di San Lio (25,556 euros), Angelo Villari (22,148 euros), Valentina Odette Scialfa Chinnici (22,148 euros), Calogero Cittadino was also sentenced to pay 7,137 euros. Five disqualification and damages to the Municipality for Natale Strano (10,705 euros), Fabio Sciuto (10,705 euros), Francesco Battaglia (10,705 euros), Massimiliano Carmelo Lo Certo (10,705 euros).

The investigations that led to the decision of the judicial section of the Court of Auditors were carried out by the economic and financial police (Pef) unit of the Guardia di Finanza of the provincial command of Catania, coordinated by the prosecutor of the Court of Auditors.

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THE REACTION OF BIANCO AND THE FORMER COUNCILORS. «We welcome with satisfaction the judgment of the Court of Auditors which dismantled the main accusatory theses of the Prosecutor’s Office, largely following our defensive approach, effectively supported by the lawyers of the members of the Executive. We have always had faith in the judiciary. On the other hand, the same Court had acknowledged on several occasions the effectiveness of the actions we have initiated in the field, for example on personnel expenses, on the costs of political bodies, on rent payable. The disaster was born well before our settlement. So much so that the Municipality of Catania had declared the predissesto in 2012, due to debts in the 2000s. We could have immediately declared the failure ourselves, discharging all responsibility. But we wanted to protect the interests of the city, avoiding the disruption that would have been paid by the creditors of the municipality and the city as a whole. The numbers clearly say that the balance sheet has improved in the 5 years of our administration. So there was no economic damage to the municipality. In fact, the accusation did not refer to tax damage, but only to the fact that we did not declare the failure. Evidently the judge today recognized that the failure is not attributable to our administration but arises from a set of contributing causes including previous financial difficulties, which emerged also thanks to our transparency action, which we have not been able to remedy. It is clear that in the next steps we will aim to annul also the remaining observations and the residual pecuniary penalty, which is in any case the minimum, of which the sentence speaks. In recent months, every judicial passage has led to an attenuation. Today, this further important passage of clarity and truth on the recent years of Catania’s history ».

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