Former Milan Expo 2015 manager
Antonio Acerbo is suspected of steering a 100-million-euro
contract for the World Fair's Waterways project to a consortium
led by construction magnate Enrico Maltauro in exchange for
consultancy contracts for his son Livio, prosecutors said
Tuesday.
Acerbo, 65, was put under house arrest together with two
others earlier in the day as part of a broader investigation
into corruption related to next year's Universal Exhibition in
the Lombardy capital.
Prosecutors are investigating two contracts in particular:
one, for 36,000 euros paid by Maltauro in 2012; and the other
promised by consortium member company Tagliabue but which never
materialised.
Andrea Castellotti, a manager working for the Tagliabue
company who was also put under house arrest on Tuesday, is
believed to have acted as middleman.
The Waterways project is now likely to be put under
compulsory administration as a result of the probe, president of
Italy's anti-corruption authority Raffaele Cantone said Tuesday.
Acerbo suspended himself from all Expo-related posts this
month after it emerged in September he was under investigation.
Acerbo had initially stepped down as Expo executive
officer, while remaining in charge of procedures for the Italian
pavilion.
Maltauro was placed under house arrest in May in a
larger probe that rocked preparations for next year's event and
led to the arrests of former Expo procurement and planning
manager Angelo Paris and several others, including a former
Christian Democrat MP.
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