A 45-year-old opitergina involved in the investigation for fraud in the procurement of primary school canteens is also at home
ODERZO. The presence of foreign bodies in meals, the scarce quantity of portions, the mismatch with the provisions of the menus, the unsuitable transport temperatures and the delivery times that do not correspond to what is contractually provided for. These are just some of the major inefficiencies contested by a company, Ep spa with registered office in Rome and operating in Naples, which had contracted out school catering and the supply of meals at home in various primary schools and municipalities in the Northeast, including , in the province of Treviso, those of Cimadolmo, San Polo di Piave and Motta di Livenza.
The reports made in the autumn of 2020 by the canteen commissions of the parents’ representatives led the carabinieri of the Nas (Nuclei antisofisticazioni e salute) of Udine and Treviso to investigate the inefficiencies reported which resulted, at dawn yesterday, in a blitz that led to the house arrest four people and the registration in the register of suspects of another five. Among them was also a woman from Oderzo, Ketty Bandiera, 45, born in Motta, responsible for the area and cooking center in Motta for Ep spa. House arrest also for the top management of the company: Pasquale Esposito, 73 years old from Naples, Massimo Vaccariello, 57 years old from Volla (Naples), and Agostino Cascone, 33 years old from Sant’Antonio Abate (Naples). Residence obligation for RR, 53 years old from Molfetta (Bari). The list is completed by five other suspects and 22 searches.
The investigations were conducted with various inspections carried out in the cooking centers of Ruda (Udine), Tarcento (Udine), Motta di Livenza and in the canteens of primary schools. The military of the Nas have also analyzed the tender documents and the supplies of foodstuffs. A contribution was provided above all by the parents’ canteen commissions through the monitoring of the service. The investigative activity led the investigators to contest the continuous and almost generalized violation of the contract clauses relating to essential aspects of the services entrusted. The alleged accusation is very heavy: fraud in public supplies, in the aggravated form (hypothetically, there is a risk of up to 8 years of imprisonment) having as its object food substances, committed to the detriment of a dozen municipalities, including the Friulian capital of Udine, which had contracted out the school catering and home delivery services to the company involved in the investigation.
Among the suspects are the top management of the company Ep spa and also a public administrator, a public official and a freelancer. The joint stock company is also under investigation for the civil liability of the entity (Article 24 paragraph 1 of Legislative Decree 231/2001).
Twenty-two search decrees issued against the recipients of the precautionary measures, as well as other persons who in various capacities collaborate with the catering company Ep which operates at national level (company for which the recipients of the precautionary measures work), of the offices of the latter company and others operating in the food wholesale sector, as well as the offices of the Municipality of Udine and a freelancer who collaborates with a public body