More than forty people including politicians, public administrators and entrepreneurs have been arrested as part of a corruption investigation in the Italian regions of Lombardy and Piedmont.
Among the politicians involved are Milan city councilor and Forza Italia candidate for the European Parliament elections Pietro Tatarella and the Forza Italia undersecretary for the Expo region of Lombardy Fabio Altitonante.
The police operation, which took place in the provinces of Milan, Varese, Monza and Brianza, Pavia, Novara, Alessandria, Turin and Asti, began in the early hours of the morning on Tuesday May 7.
In total, 43 people have been served precautionary custody orders on suspicion of belonging to a criminal association involved in the illicit financing of political parties and the rigging of tenders for public contracts among other crimes.
As part of the investigation, Milan city councilor and Forza Italia candidate for the European Parliament elections PietroTatarella and the Forza Italia undersecretary for the Expo region of Lombardy Fabio Altitonante were arrested.
Also detained was businessman Daniele D’Alfonso whom Prosecutors said paid Tatarella 5,000 euros a month to grant his waste management company contracts.
Prosecutors said there was also an episode of “instigation to corruption” regarding Lombardy Governor Attilio Fontana, who is the injured party and is not under investigation.
“I’m the injured party, I’ll talk to the prosecutors,” Fontana said.
Also on Tuesday, Calabria Governor Mario Oliverio, of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), was placed under investigation for corruption, while Cosenza Mayor Mario Occhiuto, of the centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party, was also placed under investigation.
