Frost. Several defendants, assisted by their respective lawyers, chose to be heard before the magistrate of the court. In the afternoon, many wanted to clarify their respective positions, including the mayor Lucio Greco. The objections raised by the prosecutor’s office find reference to the investigation into the alleged irregularities in the destination of the extraction royalty funds, which the municipality collects from the companies in the sector that operate in the local area. According to the investigators, they would have been used for “current expenditure” and “to cover significant off-balance sheet debts”. The approved statements for the financial years from 2015 to 2019 came under scrutiny. The investigations focused on an alleged failure to comply with the destination constraint. It is an issue that is still much debated today in the political and administrative context of the city which faces the polls at the beginning of June. The municipal body has been in a state of bankruptcy since last year and the royalty allocations are an essential chapter for the financial numbers of the body. The Ars, upon proposal of the regional government, has effectively extended the rule which allows royalties to be allocated to uses other than those dictated by the relevant legislation. It is a derogatory regime established for the situation of bankruptcy of the municipality, which among other things, again on the decision of the Ars, will be able to obtain the royalties from Eni’s “Argo-Cassiopea” project. Compared to what was detailed in the investigation by the public prosecutor’s office and the financial police, it appears that there was an alleged “false respect for the internal stability pact by the Municipality”. Accounting operations which according to investigators would have distorted “the truthfulness and reliability of the entity’s accounting results”. In addition to mayor Lucio Greco, his predecessor Domenico Messinese and former commissioner Rosario Arena are in the preliminary hearing. There are the former councilors who dealt with the budget and environment sectors, Fabrizio Morello, Grazia Robilatte and Danilo Giordano. Among the defendants, the former financial sector manager Alberto Depetro who left Palazzo di Città two years ago, when the budget crisis that led to the collapse began to develop, and also the professionals who over the years held positions in the body’s board of auditors municipal. According to the prosecutor’s office, they would have endorsed the failure to comply with “the constraint on the destination of royalties”. They are Maria Assunta Cattuto, Graziano Ponzio, Salvatore Corso, Carmela Ficara, Giuseppe Nicoletti and Pietro Gioviale.
