“I am addressing the young deputies who have insulted me in recent days: I hope that no one ever brings up your family to attack you. I do not invoke guarantees, I am not accused by the investigators. I leave the government with my head held high”. This was stated by the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Maurizio Lupi, in the speech to the Chambers with which he presented his resignation.
In recent days, late December wiretaps have been circulated in which the minister addresses Hector Incalza, dominus of the Ministry of Infrastructures arrested on Monday for corruption, addressing him the following invitation: "You must come and see my son".
Today Lupi reiterated that "never pressured her son to find work".: "The interception documents that I offered him, as any father would do, the possibility of having him meet a person of great experience, to advise him on the choice to make".
In another phone call intercepted by the Carabinieri del Ros, however, Incalza in turn tells the entrepreneur Stefano Perotti that "there is to meet the son of Maurizio”. And within a few weeks Luca Lupi, the minister's son, found work on an Eni construction site where Perotti himself obtained the direction of the works.
"Incalza's decision to call Perotti cannot be blamed on me – Lupi argued today -. I've known Perotti for years, what need would I have had to ask Incalza to intercede for him? If I wanted to, I could have done it. And I never did."
As for the gift received from the entrepreneur, "I think it is clear to everyone how unlikely it is that a family friend for 40 years would try to gain credit with me by giving me a dress”, added the minister.
"My son works in America and he was sent to San Francisco by the Milan Polytechnic, not by others – added Lupi -. There he did his thesis, he graduated with honors, then they offered him a job. He applied for a work permit in America, returned to Italy upon expiry and in the meantime accepted a VAT number of 110 euros net per month. From Monday he will be an employee of Son again, which has issued a statement to say why they took him: simply because he is good".
In the arrest warrant written by the judge, however, we read that “the help provided by Stefano Perotti to Luca Lupi is not limited to the assignment of the task described above. On 4 February 2015 Perotti asked his friend Tommaso Boralevi who works in the United States to assist one of their engineers who is currently working at the Mor studio and will be employed in New York. And he says: 'he will work in a first phase for the Mor studio as a commercial to look for opportunities and so on. We also gave him a related assignment for our construction supervision and management activities, I wanted to put him in touch that surely you, who are a kind of running engine, can give him some advice, right?'”.
As for the Rolex given by Perotti to Luca Lupi: “I would have refused a 3.500 euro watch – said the minister -. The Perottis gave it to my son well before my appointment as minister, on an important occasion like my graduation. I didn't ask him to return it: if this was my mistake, I take responsibility for it."
Finally, on the side of relations within the Government, Lupi assured that there was no pressure on him from Prime Minister Matteo Renzi: "The Prime Minister has never asked me to resign, but he let it be my personal choice.” According to rumors circulated two days ago, however, Renzi would have addressed the now ex-minister in these terms: "Dear Maurizio: if I were you, I would resign".
