Gianfranco Lopane, Tourism Councilor of the Puglia Region, he reiterates it: in his dual role as member of the regional council and director of the Armonia Immobiliare company which deals with the kitchen and laundry services of the Osmairm rehabilitation center in Laterza – whose legal representative is his mother-in-law Maria Luisa Paciulli, while the administrator is his wife Clemy Pentassuglia – there is no conflict of interest. Therefore, according to the councilor, there would be no problem in the coexistence of the two roles. Even taking into account that it is the Puglia Region itself that pays around 30 million euros a year into Osmairm’s coffers, by virtue of the agreement with the National Health Service, on whose council Lopane sits alongside Michele Emiliano.
The councilor’s version
“Who caused the Parentopoli to explode?” asks the councilor. «My company – continues Lopane – provides services to various clients, including Osmairm. The conflict of interests has nothing to do with my private activity, furthermore in the firm consideration that the causes of incompatibility with the political office I hold are regulated by precise legal provisions which define the very concept of legality and which, conversely, they excluded the existence of any conflict of interest attributable to me with respect to my candidacy before and after the election”.
The case on the Courier
The fact is that the delicate topic raised in recent days by the Corriere and reported by other newspapers, did not go unnoticed in the eyes of the investigating bodies, who were particularly vigilant in this step of the investigation launched, as can be presumed, to shed light on the relationships between Osmairm, the Region and the Local Health Authority of Taranto. The investigations are directed by the deputy prosecutor Lucia Isceri. The reports published by Corriere in recent days are also being examined by investigators.
The controls
On Wednesday last week, over fifty soldiers from the Economic and Financial Police Unit of the Taranto Financial Police showed up at the same time in all the Osmairm offices, where they acquired a considerable amount of documentation and identified the personnel on duty on the orders of the deputy prosecutor in charge of the investigation. According to what is known, the Fiamme Gialle have collected and merged into the investigation file of the Taranto Prosecutor’s Office tax, accounting and contract documentation which refers to a time period between 2017 and today.
The political-judicial storm
With the regional council and the governor himself at the center of the controversy due to the shocks caused by the investigations that overwhelmed councilor Anita Maurodonoia, who later resigned, and Alfonsino Pisicchio, former councilor of Emiliano, later appointed commissioner of the Arts, the Regional Agency for Technology and Innovation, assignment abandoned only a few hours before the arrest (under house arrest), the Lopane affair risks turning into yet another problem for the president. Emiliano, urged by the secretary of the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein to reshape the council by being guided by criteria based on morality and keeping quick-change artists out of the picture, asked for time to find the right solution.
The clarification
Meanwhile Lopane, political exponent of Con (movement that supports the governor Michele Emiliano), he disputes the fact that the news of his alleged conflict of interest, in his opinion, was improperly linked to the raid by the Guardia di Finanza on the Osmairm offices. «The operation of the financiers in the Osmairm structures – he clarifies – did not in any way concern my service company». And again: «I don’t find a plausible connection except that of wanting to indirectly influence political choices on the part of those who are called upon to make them in a delicate moment. I perfectly understand the importance of journalism as an essential tool for democracy and discussion of ideas and opinions and I have the utmost respect for the journalistic profession”, concludes Gianfranco Lopane, who, however, considers the case “completely non-existent and devoid of any content of illegitimacy”. Meanwhile, the investigations into Osmairm continue. And other sensational news is not excluded.
Tags: Councilor Lopanes company services wife motherinlaws company Investigate Finance
