The governor of the Liguria Region, Giovanni Totiwas arrested and placed under house arrest today, Tuesday 7 May: the accusation is that of corruption. The entrepreneur was placed under house arrest together with him Aldo Spinelliknown for managing the port of Genoa and for having been the owner of the football teams of Genoa he was born in Livorno.
Paolo Emilio Signorini, former president of the Ligurian Sea Port System Authority and current CEO of Iren, was instead taken to prison. Toti was suspended from his position according to the Severino law. Flavio Briatore was waiting for him today for the opening of the new Twiga on the Riviera. Among the suspects there is also Francesco Moncadacouncilor of Esselunga, with a temporary ban on carrying out entrepreneurial and professional activities.
The arrests are the result of an investigation by the Genoa prosecutor’s office into alleged corrupt links between entrepreneurs and politicians, with particular attention to the port concession system, including the renewal of the concession at the Bulk Terminal in Spinelli. According to the investigations, a few days after the renewal of the concession, four companies linked to Spinelli made transfers to a total of 40 thousand euros to the Giovanni Toti Liguria committee. The investigations also concern a concession to the Spinelli family for a luxury citadel and a tourist facility in Celle Ligure.
The prosecutor’s office claims that those arrested created a system of favoritism fueled by bribes, including the payment of advertising spaces, such as a large billboard on a skyscraper in Genoa that in the past hosted an Esselunga advertisement. Toti is accused of having received financing and favors for a total of 74 thousand euros from Spinelli.
The Region’s chief of staff, Matteo Cozzani, is also under accusation for electoral corruption and facilitating the activities of the Cammarata clan. Others under investigation include Mauro Vianelli, president of the Ente Bacini, Roberto Spinelli, Aldo’s son, Venanzio Maurici (CGIL trade unionist), Arturo Angelo Testa and Italo Maurizio Testa. The investigation originated more than four years ago when Toti was subjected to scrutiny by Bank of Italy for some suspicious transactions, triggering the intervention of the financial police.
