Premier Matteo Renzi's Democratic
Party (PD) will vote in favour of granting a request for the
arrest of a Senator who is being probed in relation to the
allegedly fraudulent bankruptcy of a nursing home chain, PD
Chairman Matteo Orfini said Thursday.
Senator Antonio Azzollini is from the New Centre Right
(NCD) party, a junior partner in Renzi's ruling coalition, and
is the chair of the Upper House budget committee.
Prosecutors in the Puglia town of Trani have sent a request
to the Senate parliamentary immunity panel to be allowed to
arrest him in the 500-million-euro bankruptcy case involving the
Divine Providence nursing home chain, which employs 1,600
people.
Azzollini is also the former mayor of the Puglia city of
Molfetta, the name of whose bishop, Monsignor Luigi Martella,
has reportedly surfaced in wiretaps involving former Divine
Providence managers.
The probe led on Tuesday to the issuing of arrest warrants
for 10 people, including Azzollini and two nuns.
Sister Marcella Cesa and Sister Consolata Puzzello were
placed under house arrest Wednesday on charges of conspiring to
commit false bankruptcy and other crimes.
"When faced with a request of this kind...voting in favour
of the arrest seems inevitable," Orfini said.
The Senate immunity panel will examine the request
beginning on June 16.
It will meet "twice a week, probably through June 24" said
panel president Dario Stefano from the opposition Left Ecology
Freedom (SEL) party.
Azzollini for his part said he will attend the hearings
and "respect the schedule".
Meanwhile in Trani, prosecutors are running checks on at
least two high-ranking representatives of the Catholic Church in
connection with the case, whose names have not been released.
One of the prelates being probed allegedly had a role in
the controversial former management of the Institute for
Religious Works (IOR), commonly known as the Vatican Bank.
Divine Providence staffers are not in danger of losing
their jobs however, according to special commissioner Bartolo
Cozzoli, a lawyer.
"Our sole objective is to put this company back on its feet
as soon as possible, so it can compete in a complex market,"
Cozzoli said Thursday.
Back in Rome, PD Deputy Secretary Lorenzo Guerini assured
critics the scandal won't threaten the majority coalition -
which is no stranger to controversy after former Transport and
Infrastructure Minister Maurizio Lupi, also from the NCD party,
stepped down in March amid a graft scandal.
Lupi had come under fire over allegations he asked for
favours for his son from arrested graft suspect Ercole Incalza,
a former top executive at his ministry.
Azzollini's case is expected to reach the Senate floor by
the end of the month.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
