Italian public officials arrested as police uncover major mafia fraud
Public officials were among 63 people arrested in a major
operation targeting Calabria's powerful 'Ndrangheta mafia.
Italian police said on Thursday they had dismantled a major
organised crime ring involving public works tenders valued at over 100 million
euros ($110 million), including EU funds.
Eleven public officials were identified among the 63 people
targeted in the operation, codenamed "Waterfront", against the
powerful 'Ndrangheta mafia of southern Italy, Reggio Calabria financial police said in a statement.
Allegations include public tender fraud, abuse of office,
and bribery.
"The aim of the criminal association was to guarantee
the control of the entire system of public tenders issued by Calabrian
contracting entities," the statement said.
Fourteen people were placed under house arrest, while police
seized the financial assets of 45 suspects and the corporate assets of 36
companies based not only in the south but also around Rome and Tuscany.
Investigators said the cartel was made up of multiple
companies "capable of winning – through auction disturbances facilitated
by the mafia - at least 22 public tenders, in systematic fraud against the
Calabria Region and the European Community."
Seven of the tenders from 2007 and 2013 involved European
Union funds totalling 42 million euros to redevelop urban and waterfront areas
near Gioia Tauro, a port city at the toe of Italy's boot.
"Systemic fraud" was also found in related public
supplies contracts, police said.
Besides accounting irregularities, investigators also found
that complicit contractors had failed to perform quality tests on asphalt to be
used in various sports complexes and an underground car park in Gioia Tauro,
while concrete intended for sections of highway used "materials of lower
quality"
than demanded by the contract.
The 'Ndrangheta, centred in the most southern region of
Calabria, has surpassed Sicily's more famous Cosa Nostra to become Italy's most
powerful mafia group.
A major police sting in December against the group resulted
in the arrest of 334 people, including a police colonel and a former MP.
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