Transport and Infrastructure
Minister Maurizio Lupi reported to parliament Wednesday after
being linked to a corruption scandal and denied suggestions he
used his influence to obtain work for his son.
There have been calls for Lupi to quit from several
quarters and opposition parties have presented a no-confidence
motion after his son Luca was linked to a corruption probe.
"I want to go to parliament to report on the decisions
(made)," Lupi said during a visit to the Milan trade-fair centre
to see the Made Expo show.
"I have never exerted pressure to ask for my son to be
hired, so this will never appear in any wiretap," added the
minister, who received flak in Milan, with some exhibitors
shouting "shame" and "resign".
Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, the head of Lupi's New
Centre Right (NCD) party, backed the minister, who has come
under fire in connection with a massive graft probe uncovered
Monday related to the infrastructure ministry and its previous
incarnation as the public works ministry.
Judges investigating corruption in public contracts have
suggested a relationship between Lupi and some of the suspects
in the probe.
Ercole Incalza, a public-works official for seven
governments, was arrested Monday along with businessmen Stefano
Perotti and Francesco Cavallo, as well as Incalza's aide Sandro
Pacella, in the probe that saw more than 50 people including
politicians placed under investigation for suspected kickbacks
that inflated costs by as much as 40%.
Lupi's son was allegedly hired by an engineer, Giorgio
Mor, at Perotti's behest in what a judge said was a favour that
might have been reciprocated in some way. The indirect hiring of
Luca Lupi by Perotti may have been part of "an illicit quid pro
quo" by the minister, a judge alleged.
Prosecutors said Wednesday Incalza oversaw "systemic
corruption" on a massive scale.
"This is not a story of ordinary corruption but a scenario
of devastating, systemic corruption in the management of major
public works contracts," prosecution papers said.
They described "a criminal organization of exceptional
breadth that has affected the flow of State financing for at
least two decades".
Prosecutors said Incalza held on to positions of power for
over 30 years, de facto ruling the ministry currently headed by
Minister Maurizio Lupi. "In spite of the fact that he retired at
least a decade ago, (Incalza) remains to this day at the head of
a ministry with the same decision-making powers (as a minister),
albeit under the guise of a singular job description as
consultant to the minister," Florence prosecutors wrote in their
pretrial custody request.
They added most of the actual building of public works is
usually carried out by "myriad subcontractors that are often
contiguous with mafia criminal elements". For example, a
contract to dispose of construction debris from the new Florence
TAV high-speed rail line went to companies headed by a firm
"that is close to the Casalesi" Camorra mafia clan, according to
prosecution papers.
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