Trapani mayor candidate nabbed for graft, Crocetta probed

(ANSA) - Palermo, May 19 - Sicilian regional councillor Girolamo Fazio, a former Forza Italia member who is now in the assembly's mixed group and is running to be mayor of Trapani, was among three people arrested by Carabinieri police on Friday in relation to a corruption probe, sources said. Shipping businessman Ettore Morace and a regional official, Giuseppe Montalto, were also arrested, the sources said. Morace is the son of Vittorio Morace, the chairman of Serie B soccer team Trapani Calcio. The father and son are owners of the Liberty Lines ferry company.
    Sicily Governor Rosario Crocetta of the centre-left Democratic Party and Transport and Infrastructure Undersecretary Simona Vicari, a member of the centrist AP group, are under investigation, sources said. Crocetta is being probed for aiding and abetting corrpuption while the allegation against Vicari concerns a Rolex allegedly given to the undersecretary by Morace. It is suspected that this is linked to Vicari presenting an amendment lowering value-added tax on maritime transport from 10% to 4%, saving million of euros for Morace's company. Vicari has just received notification she is probed, sources said. photo: Fazio