Execs probed in Puglia mafia boss hire

(ANSA) - Bari, February 23 - Two executives at Puglia's AMIU trash collection agency were placed under investigation after it emerged the public contractor had hired a local mafia boss with a criminal record, sources said Tuesday.
    AMIU President Gianfranco Grandaliano and AMIU Manager Angela Ida Loiacono are being probed on charges of forgery and fraud aggravated by mafia aiding and abetting in the hiring of Franco Diomede, a boss belonging to a mafia clan operating in Bari's Carrassi neighborhood.
    The fact that Diomede was working at the public contractor in violation of a law banning hires of people with criminal records emerged during an investigation into extortion against Carassi shopkeepers, which led to five arrests including that of Diomede himself. Investigators also discovered Diomede had been hired by a cooperative who was a contractor for maintenance of public toilets.