They used 13 homes in Ragusa for the time necessary to allow migrants, mainly Tunisians, in exchange for “large sums of money”, to obtain, through the complicity of two municipal operators, the registered residence, essential for the presentation of requests for release or renewal of the residence permit or even for family reunification. It is the technique used by six people, reached by a precautionary measure issued by the investigating judge at the request of the local prosecutor’s office, following police investigations, which hypothesizes the crime of aiding and abetting the entry and stay on the national territory of non-EU citizens.
Three suspects under house arrest
Three suspects, including a woman, were placed under house arrest; another woman under the obligation to reside in the Municipality of Ragusa; for two municipal operators the suspension of the exercise of a public office or service was triggered. The latter two, according to the accusation, “in exchange for the payment of money they failed to carry out the verification, limiting themselves to bland and superficial checks, subsequently communicating to the registry office that they had passed the assessment, by virtue of which the registered residence in the Municipality of Ragusa”.
The modus operandi
Two of the recipients of the precautionary measure ran an assistance center for foreigners in Ragusa. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, “one of those arrested would have played a central role: he kept close contact with the two municipal operators and accompanied and directed the foreigners to the homes, unknown to them, in which they had requested to establish residence and have them detained for the time strictly necessary for operator control”. The investigation is based on investigations by the Flying Squad of the Ragusa Police Headquarters.
The exploited laborers in Cassibile
The Nil carabinieri of Syracuse have reported an agricultural entrepreneur for labor exploitation and for having employed foreign laborers without a residence permit. This is the outcome of the raid on some companies in the Cassibile area, where every year, in spring, there is an exodus of workers, mostly African, for the potato harvest.
