Acerbo among three arrested in Milan Expo probe – update 3

(ANSA) - Milan, October 14 - 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.