Piedmont 'crazy expenses' case adjourned

(ANSA) - Torino, October 21 - The trial of 24 former Piedmont regional councillors accused of abusing expense claims while in office opened in Turin on Tuesday but was immediately adjourned to allow prosecutors to clarify the position of a further 10 politicians suspected of similar misconduct.
    At the same time the court also decided to combine proceedings against the former councillors with those against former Piedmont governor Roberto Cota of the right-wing regionalist Northern League (LN), who faces trial in connection with the same alleged offences.
    The next hearing has been scheduled for January 26 2015. Tuesday's adjournment came after a judge ordered prosecutors to formulate indictment charges against 10 people implicated in the so-called 'crazy expenses' case involving Piedmont regional council on Monday.
    The suspects included two members of the current Piedmont regional council executive led by Governor Sergio Chiamparino, who belongs to Premier Matteo Renzi's centre-left Democratic Party (PD). Prosecutors were given 10 days to formulate the charges, after which a different judge will decide whether to actually send the defendants to trial.