Arguments, arguments, which turned into threats to get hired as an employee, forcing the owner of a Soverato bathing establishment and entrepreneur in the construction sector to give him sums of money and then the fire.
“Do you want to see that I don’t make you open the beach?”
The Carabinieri of the Soverato Company have notified an order of precautionary measure under house arrest with an electronic bracelet, written by the investigating judge Sara Mazzotta at the request of the Catanzaro Prosecutor’s Office, against Vittorio Gualtieri, 29 years old from Chiaravalle Centrale, accused of attempted extortion and of setting fire to a vehicle owned by the entrepreneur. According to the accusatory hypotheses, the suspect would have addressed intimidating phrases to the entrepreneur: “don’t be surprised if a few days of these he makes you disappear. Do you want to see that I won’t make you open the beach? I’ve had precedents, if I want I’ll go back to doing what I did before, I’ll burn your van. Remember that I have the right friends”, similar expressions also uttered to a currently unidentified person: “I’ll kill his children anyway” and referring to the entrepreneur’s children.
The fire and the “request” to be hired
And then from words Gualtieri would have moved on to actions by setting fire to the vehicle owned by the victim. In particular, after going to the central area of Soverato at night, he allegedly placed flammable material on the right front wheel of the vehicle, unleashing uncontrolled flames which destroyed the van, creating a clear danger to public safety. On 6, 7 April and 17 May last in Catanzaro and Soverato, he allegedly carried out acts aimed at forcing the entrepreneur to hire him as an employee in his company and to provide him with a sum of money, an event which did not occur due to the strenuous opposition of the offended person.
The aggression
The investigation originates from an intervention by the Soverato police due to the presence of a burning van. Subsequent investigations made it possible to ascertain that the fire was arson, tracing it back to the owners of the vehicle. The victim, an entrepreneur, interviewed for brief information by the military, declared that he had not had problems with anyone except one of his collaborators, Vittorio Gualtieri, reporting that he had gone with him to Catanzaro to an apartment to carry out construction work. And in this circumstance an argument would have arisen between the two, the victim would have complained about delays in carrying out the work and Gualtieri, who claimed to be employed on a permanent basis with a contract, would have initially railed verbally and then attacked him by hitting him in the face with a fist and a kick, jerking it, pushing it forcefully.
“Related to prominent figures in organized crime”
The businessman also told the investigators that days earlier he had gone to Gualtieri’s house since he had not gone to work and that without a specific reason but presumably in the grip of alcohol fumes, while leaving the house, he he had attacked him by pulling him and hitting him with kicks and punches. Only a few days later, contacting Gualtieri to understand the reasons for the gesture, the victim learned that the motive was attributable to alleged offenses aimed at Gualtieri’s family. The entrepreneur also clarified that the decision not to hire him in the company was linked to their previous agreement, requested by Gualtieri to work on a contract for reasons of tax convenience and that in some circumstances he had told him that he was related to prominent people of local organized crime without ever mentioning his name. We now await the preliminary interrogation where Gualtieri accompanied by the defense lawyer Vincenzo Cicino will be able to decide whether to provide his version of the facts or make use of the right not to answer.
