Carabinieri police on Tuesday
arrested seven naval employees, including officers in service,
over allegations of official misconduct in relation to alleged
participation in a kickback scheme involving companies providing
services to the military corps.
The arrests were the result of a probe that began following
a denouncement by a contractor which led to the arrest of
frigate captain Roberto La Gioia, 46, last March.
The suspects - five officers, one NCO and one civilian
employee - allegedly colluded to ensure that contracting
companies paid the equivalent of 10% of their profits as
kickbacks in money or in kind.
Investigators say the payoffs went directly to La Gioia who
then distributed them among the group according to agreed
percentages.
The preliminary investigations judge described the scheme
as a "genuine protection scheme imposed strictly and with brutal
and sometimes shameless arrogance, and which caused considerable
damage both to the individual companies and to the local economy
as a whole, essentially in the manner of organised crime".
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