Entrepreneurs, generals, local and national politicians. It is a judicial cyclone that hit Venice today, where the mayor Giorgio Orsoni (Pd) was arrested (he is now under house arrest) on charges of illegally financing political parties. The Guardia di Finanza carried out a total of 35 precautionary custody measures as part of an investigation into the former CEO of Mantovani, Giorgio Baita, and the contracts for the Mose (electromechanical experimental module), i.e. the system of mobile gates designed to defend the Venetian capital from high water, temporarily separating the lagoon from the sea.
According to Giorgio Orsoni's lawyers, "the circumstances contested in the notified provision do not seem credible", as "he is attributed to conduct that is not compatible with his role and his lifestyle".
In all, there are about a hundred suspects: the charges range from accounting and tax crimes to corruption, from extortion to illegal financing. Marco Milanese, political adviser to former Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti, is also under investigation, but in his case the investigating judge has not accepted the request for arrest.
In addition to Orsoni, the regional councilor for infrastructures Renato Chisso (Forza Italia), the regional councilor of the Democratic Party Giampiero Marchese and the entrepreneurs Franco Morbiolo and Roberto Meneguzzo also ended up in handcuffs. The retired general Emilio Spaziante and Amalia Sartori, Forza Italia MEP who was not re-elected in the recent elections, were also arrested. The Venice prosecutor's office has also requested the arrest of Giancarlo Galan, the current Forza Italia deputy, former minister (first of Agriculture ù, then of cultural heritage in the fourth Berlusconi government) and former president of the Veneto Region. The Chamber of Deputies must express itself on the request.
"I ask to be heard as soon as possible, I have incontrovertible proof of my non-involvement, I would have liked to provide the necessary information sooner," Galan wrote in a statement.
The investigation by the Guardia di Finanza of Venice began about three years ago. Prosecutors Stefano Ancillotto, Stefano Buccini and Paola Tonino (DDA) discovered that Baita (already hit by a precautionary custody order last February) moved some resources allocated for Mose by creating black funds abroad.
The money, according to the indictment, was taken by Claudia Minutillo, an entrepreneur and former personal secretary of Galan, to San Marino, where the money was laundered by William Colombelli thanks to his own financial company Bmc. According to the Fiamme Gialle, at least 20 million euros would have ended up in foreign accounts and were probably directed to politics.
The chief prosecutor, Luigi Delpino, specified instead that the basis of the investigation are triangulation of money and black funds obtained through false invoices increased for an ascertained total of 25 million euros.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi met the president of the Anti-Corruption Authority Raffaele Cantone this morning in view of the definition of a provision, probably a decree, on the powers of the same Canton in Expo management. The prime minister is reportedly considering the possibility of extending the powers of the canton to MOSE as well.
