Eventually they arrested him. Franco Fiorito, former PDL group leader in the Lazio Region better known as "er Batman", was conducted in jail this morning by the men of the currency police unit of the Guardia di Finanza. The charge is of peculation: the politician would have pocketed approx one million and 300 thousand euros of public money destined for his council group. Funds that Batman would turn over to his current accounts, some of which are abroad.
The investigating judge Stefano Aprile issued the precautionary custody order at the request of the assistant prosecutor Alberto Caperna and the prosecutor Alberto Pioletti. The text highlights the danger of leaking and tampering with the evidence. Meanwhile, the Fiamme Gialle are carrying out a dozen searches in the homes of Fiorito, who could already be questioned by the judge tomorrow.
“Apart from the media pressures that demand that the scapegoat pay for everything, 70 directors are missing next to Fiorito – he commented Carlo Taormina, Fiorito's defense attorney -. The embezzlement is not pertinent, that money goes into the coffers of the group which is an expression of the party and therefore equated to a private association. At most, one can argue about embezzlement. We will make our grievances in the appropriate forums". Therefore, the appeal to the Court of Review against the arrest warrant seems obvious.
The investigation that today brought Batman to handcuffs is headed by the Rome prosecutor's office. A different investigation than that of the Prosecutor of Viterbo, which yesterday entered the former group leader and the members of the regional coordination of the Lazio Pdl in the register of suspects. In this case Fiorito is accused of slander and forgery for a series of inflated or falsified invoices relating to expenses incurred by Francesco Battistoni, the man who in July had replaced him in the chair of the PDL group leader at Pisana.
