Hercules Incalza, a former super manager of the Ministry of Public Works, was arrested together with three other people – Francesco Cavallo, Stefano Perotti and Sandro Pacella – in an operation by the Carabinieri del Ros in Rome and Milan on the Great Works.
THE INVESTIGATION OF FLORENCE
The prosecution it is corruption, undue induction, disturbed freedom of enchantments and other crimes against the public administration. In progress in various Italian regions, searches of public offices and companies attributable to over 50 suspects, including some politicians. At the center of the investigation, illicit management of contracts "through an articulated system of corruption which involved public managers, companies judging the contracts, and companies executing the works".
The custody orders were issued at the request of the Florence public prosecutor's office. Although today Incalza "doesn't play any role or function even free of charge", as the government hastened to point out, he was a super manager of Public Works where he remained for 14 years, going through seven executives.
MANAGERS AND ENTREPRENEURS INVOLVED
In the network of investigations also ended up Sandro Pacella who is an official of the ministry, a close collaborator of Incalza. Just as it gravitated within the dicastery too Francesco Cavallo, chairman of the board of directors of Centostazioni Spa, a company of the Ferrovie dello Stato group. According to the Florence prosecutor's office, he would be the main person responsible for the "corruption system" that emerged from the investigations. According to the indictment, it was he, in particular, as dominus of the technical mission structure of the Ministry of Public Works, who organized the illicit management of contracts for major works, with the direct contribution by Perotti, which was often entrusted with the construction management of the offending contracts. The mission structure of the Infrastructures it is the hub of all the great works of the country: from the implementation of the objective law, to the national infrastructure plan to the monitoring of all investments.
WHO IS HOT
Incalza, a long-time manager of the Ministry of Infrastructures, had a career turning point in 2001 with the appointment of minister Pietro Lunardi as head of the technical secretariat (Berlusconi government); and then remained in the ministry for fourteen years, going through seven governments, leaving office only on 31 December last year. It passed through Antonio Di Pietro (Prodi government), then was promoted head of mission structure by Altero Matteoli (Berlusconi again), confirmed by Corrado Passera (Monti government), Lupi (Letta government) and then again Lupi (Renzi government) , until three months ago. During his long career (starting from the Cassa for midday), Incalza was also at the Ferrovie dello Stato, becoming managing director of the Tav (from '91 to '96). At that time he ended up under house arrest as part of the Tangentopoli investigation into the FS, which overwhelmed Lorenzo Necci (then CEO of FS) in the 90s.
The ACCUSES
The Prosecutor and the Ros accuse the arrested of having put in place a "complex system of corruption which involved public managers, companies awarded the contracts and companies carrying out the works".
What works ended up in the investigation? All the main "Major works" - in particular the contracts relating to the Tav but also some contracts relating to the Expo and beyond. The investigations are coordinated by the Florence prosecutor's office because everything would have started from the contracts for thehigh speed in the Florentine node and for the under-crossing of the city. From there, the investigation expanded to include all the most important high-speed lines in central-northern Italy and a long series of contracts relating to other major works, including some relating to the Expo.
The new corruption scandal happens just as the corruption bill in the Senate (stopped for almost two years) faces a thousand difficulties while waiting to find a political agreement on the central issue of extending the statute of limitations.
