Tiziano Renzi has 'nothing to hide' over CONSIP (5)

(ANSA) - Rome, March 2 - Tiziano Renzi, the father of ex-premier Matteo Renzi, said Thursday that he has nothing to hide and was ready to be questioned by investigators in relation to a probe into alleged corruption at civil-service procurement agency CONSIP.
    As judicial sources said he would be questioned on Friday, Tiziano Renzi, who is under investigation in the probe, said: "I never asked for money. I never took money. Never. "And I think that the magistrates have all the instruments to verify this. I can't wait for the truth to come out. I want to be questioned. I want them to verify everything about me. I have nothing to hide. Nothing". He added: "I never had secret meetings in grubby diners," as reported in the press. Renzi said "I feel like I'm living in a nightmare" and said "when it ends I hope it gets the very same prominence in the media".
    L'Espresso magazine says in its issue to be published Sunday that Renzi and former Berlusconi aide Denis Verdini "exerted pressure" on CONSIP CEO Luigi Marroni, who reported this to police. According to papers released Wednesday, Tiziano Renzi and pharmaceuticals businessman Carlo Russo "got promises of money" as monthly payments from Alfredo Romeo, the high-profile Campanian businessman arrested in the CONSIP probe.
    The payments were allegedly for exerting influence over Marroni, an acquaintance of the elder Renzi's, the papers said.
    Romeo was arrested and taken to jail early on Wednesday over the alleged corruption linked to CONSIP.
    Judicial sources said Thursday he will be questioned on Monday.
    Romeo has "a network of institutional connections at a very high level" which he uses "in an unscrupulous way to steer the actions of the civil service to his advantage," a judge said in the arrest warrant.
    Investigators also seized assets worth around 100,000 euros from a CONSIP official, Marco Gasparri, money that allegedly stems from bribes from Romeo, sources said. Carabinieri and finance police also conducted a series searches related to Italo Bocchino, a former lawmaker for the now-defunct centre-right People of Freedom Party (PdL).
    As well as Tiziano Renzi, Sports Minister Luca Lotti is under investigation in the probe too.
    Lotti, seen as Matteo Renzi's right-hand man, said Wednesday he was "extremely relaxed" regarding the probe.
    All those involved have denied wrongdoing.