Lazio Governor Nicola Zingaretti
on Monday said he is suing Salvatore Buzzi, the jailed kingpin
of an alleged crime syndicate made up of businessmen, gangsters
and politicians that prosecutors say muscled in on lucrative
city contracts.
Addressing the regional assembly, Zingaretti said he was
taking legal action against Buzzi for trying to implicate him in
the so-called Rome Mafia case.
"Those who are accused, are now accusing from jail,"
Zingaretti said of Buzzi, who is charged among other offences
with racketeering and corruption.
"I have given my lawyers a mandate to sue Buzzi for his
statements," Zingaretti told the regional assembly.
According to press reports, Buzzi told prosecutors that
another suspect arrested in the case, Luca Odevaine, claimed
that Zingaretti's former chief-of-staff Antonio Calicchia took
bribes in connection with the construction of a new building to
house the provincial government.
According to the allegations, which were initially
reported by independent broadcaster La7, Zingaretti was also
cited in connection with a multi-billion-euro contract for
regional services.
"Nobody asks for money on my behalf," Zingaretti said.
The crime syndicate, led by Buzzi and former rightwing
terrorist and gangster Massimo Carminati, specialized in
lucrative city contracts for Roma people camps and migrant
reception centers, which the ringleaders said in published
wiretaps were "more profitable than drugs".
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