Ex-premier Massimo D'Alema could
be questioned as part of an investigation into alleged bribes
paid to obtain public contracts on the Bay of Naples island of
Ischia, sources said Tuesday.
It is said that D'Alema could clarify information around
the relationship between public officials and one of the biggest
of Italy's leftwing cooperative companies, Gruppo CPL Concordia.
The coop has been named in the bribery probe.
Earlier in the day Raffaele Cantone, the head of Italy's
anti-corruption authority, said he had requested that
prosecutors send him the case files in the alleged bribery case.
Ten people were arrested in relation to the probe on
Monday, including the island's mayor, Giuseppe 'Giosi'
Ferrandino.
"We have officially requested the documents from the
Naples prosecutor's office to see whether there are contracts
that can be put into the hands of administrators," he said.
"We'll check. First we must read the files".
Ferrandino, mayor for seven years, is a member of Premier
Matteo Renzi's centre-left Democratic Party (PD).
Ferrandino's brother Massimo Ferrandino was also arrested
along with several officials from CPL Concordia, a huge former
Communist cooperative founded in Modena in 1899 and employing
some 1,800 people, with 70 branches worldwide.
Investigation documents allege that CPL Concordia signed
two sham conventions worth 330,000 euros with the Ferrandino
family hotel, hired Massimo Ferrandino as a consultant and paid
for at least one holiday in Tunisia in exchange for the alleged
favours.
The investigators believe CPL Concordia executives also
paid money to members of the Campania mafia, the Camorra, as
part of the scam.
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