The president of Liguria Giovanni Toti he is accused of manipulating data on Covid-19 cases in his region to obtain more vaccine doses from the commissioner structure. The accusation of forgery against the president and his resigning chief of staff is based on this Matteo Cozzani, both under house arrest in the investigation into corruption and illicit financing in Genoa.
Furthermore, a file has emerged investigating alleged favoritism, such as electoral financing, to four entrepreneurs in the private healthcare sector. Rumors of the governor’s resignation continue to circulate, while another investigation concerns the privatization of a public beach for the construction of new housing in Punta dell’Olmo, at a cost of 11 thousand euros per square meter.
Covid data rigged to have more vaccines
The new accusations emerged from interceptions of the Economic and Financial Police Unit of Genoa, which indicate that “it appears plausible to hypothesize that the data were subjected to manipulation”.
“What was the problem? Which I had already rigged. He took them and increased them again – this is what Matteo Cozzani would have said in one of the many telephone conversations now in the hands of the investigators – When he sent them back to me I looked at him and wrote to him: ‘But f… president, but I’m out’. He said: ‘But no, I increased them a bit…’. ‘But I already did it,’ I told him. ‘S.. tell me you did it’”.
As highlighted by the soldiers of the Guardia di Finanza, the communication of the numbers to the structure of the Extraordinary Commissioner for the Covid emergency, General Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, “was a public action aimed at representing the vaccine needs to the government, based on the what regional supplies have been established”. Despite the attempt to manipulate the data on infections in Liguria to obtain a greater quantity of doses in the shortest possible time, the plan failed due to the decision of the commissioner structure to distribute the supplies following other criteria.
Also investigations into healthcare financing
Still on the subject of healthcare, investigators are analyzing the financing that healthcare entrepreneurs would provide to Giovanni Toti’s electoral committees. Although these maneuvers are common and legal, the suspicion arises that contracts and agreements were granted in exchange for these loans.
The focus is on financing Change Foundationwhich exceed the 40 thousand euros and according to investigators they come from some entities active in the private and affiliated healthcare sector. One of them is House of Health, a network of specialized clinics controlled by the Italmobiliare group of the Pesenti family, which has experienced a real boom in Liguria. Founded in 2013, it currently has 29 facilities with 900 employees, including 450 doctors, distributed in various Ligurian cities. The Casa della Salute contributed financially to Toti’s Committee, which responded by hosting their event in the Region’s Hall of Transparency, which was attended by both Toti and the mayor of Genoa, Bucci.
The financiers also include‘Iclas of Rapalloof the GVM group, Hc Hospital And On Health Care. Genoa prosecutors are investigating three or four financiers, in addition to the other 20 companies from different sectors involved in the corruption investigation.
The case of new housing in Punta dell’Olmo
Another case that recently broke out is the one on the beach of Celle Ligure. Construction work is underway in the area accommodation managed by Punta dell’Olmo spa, Spininvest company, owned by Aldo Spinelli and his son Roberto. In a telephone conversation, Toti allegedly declared to Spinelli: “Look, we have resolved the problem regarding the Celle house plan for your son. Now let’s practice, we can build it. We fixed it this morning. When will you invite me on the boat? So let’s talk a bit, because now there are elections. We need a hand“. This conversation would involve Toti in facilitating Spinelli and the entrepreneurs, also granting them the possibility of building an exclusive tunnel for access to the beach, privatizing part of it.
According to the latest news, to grant the seaside license Toti and the then mayor of Varazze, Antonio Bozzano, would have come up with a plan: through the “rationalization of concessions”, they intended to pass the Lungomare Europa cliff, between Varazze and Cogoleto, as “free stretch of coast”in order to privatize the stretch of beach needed by Spinelli, despite it being a rocky area.
Spinelli’s boat at the center of the investigations: where all the meetings were held
At the center of the investigations is the Leila 2the yacht of the entrepreneur Aldo Spinelli, where it frequently hosted the president of Liguria Toti.
Spinelli’s yacht has become a symbol of this investigation: when some of the protagonists of the investigation came on board, they left their cell phones outside. A precaution to avoid being intercepted, but it proved useless given that the boat was full of bugs. On board we discussed port concessions, real estate initiatives, we ate and toasted.
It also seems that the former prosecutor of Genoa also came on board, Francesco Cozzi, who led the investigation into the collapse of the Morandi Bridge. Retired in 2021, Cozzi held a regularly paid consulting role for Spinelli. There are no irregularities, only confirmation of the entrepreneur’s ability to maintain relationships at the highest levels.
The interrogation of Spinelli and the Testa brothers
Today, Monday 13 May 2024, Aldo Spinelli he will return to the prosecutor’s office around 12.30 for the interrogation, together with his son Roberto. The interrogation should have been on Friday but due to a mix-up the lawyers of the former owner of Genoa and Livorno had not received the summons.
According to what was claimed by the magistrates, the Spinellis bribed the president of the Toti Region and the former president of the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority, Paolo Emilio Signorini, in order to obtain favors for their business activities. After the silent scenes of Signorini and Toti, it is probable that the other suspects will also follow the same line of non-response, even if Spinelli, as he had previously mentioned, could decide to speak.
The two are scheduled to be interrogated on Tuesday Testa brothers, Arturo Angelo and Maurizio, former exponents of Forza Italia in Lombardy (suspended on 7 May). The two are accused of electoral corruption, aggravated by the fact of having favored Cosa Nostra, and both are subject to the obligation to reside in the Municipality of Boltiere (Bergamo). During the regional elections in Liguria on 20 and 21 September 2020, they promised jobs to obtain the support of voters, belonging to the Riesi community of Genoa and in any case Sicilians, in favor of the ‘Let’s change with Toti Presidente’ list and of the candidate Stefano Anzalone (also under investigation but not subject to precautionary measures).
