Rigged public tenders in Caserta, councilor, municipal managers and an entrepreneur under house arrest

Unpacked contracts, conflict of public and private interests, bought votes: there is a bit of everything (the worst of everything) in the investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Santa Maria Capua Vetere which today shook the Municipality of Caserta: under house arrest the councilor for public works of the Municipality of Caserta, Massimiliano Marzo, two managers and a municipal employee and an entrepreneur. The crimes of fraud, forgery and corruption for the awarding of some public contracts have been contested in various ways. The investigation was conducted by the Carabinieri of the Investigative Unit of Caserta and coordinated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Santa Maria Capua Vetere. Started two years ago, the investigation focuses on public works and contracts for street works and public lighting.

The prosecutor of Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Pierpaolo Bruni, said it in this morning’s press conference and used very clear terms: «This is an investigation in which a conflict of interests between public and private interests has emerged, and which therefore sees in the background the commercialism of the vote”.

According to the investigators, the contracts were awarded below the threshold, to favor friendly entrepreneurs, with the councilor for public works bringing with him a profound conflict of interest as he was also the owner of a construction company, and who therefore exploited his role to do the good and bad weather in the assignment of public works in the sector of maintenance of public greenery, school buildings and the municipal kennel. Probably in exchange for votes and other benefits, such as the supply of building materials from the March company to the entrepreneurs who then carried out the work, but also the payment of an RCA.

The provincial commander of the Carabinieri of Caserta Manuel Scarso he explained: «the works financed with public funds took place before the approval of the resolutions and were then paid to the companies in full and not as a percentage as normally happens. To justify everything, false documents were then created” which therefore made use of the complicity of managers.

The investigation started in 2021 during the administrative elections, when the carabinieri gathered suspicions about a round of votes in exchange for promises relating to the execution of public works, which concerned the exponent of the Belforte clan Antonio Rondinone (not involved in this investigation, interested in making his son Gennaro (under investigation) a candidate, and who then supported the current deputy mayor Casale; among the elements collected in that period also emerged the interest of the Capone family, in particular of the exponent of the Belforte Giovanni clan, for the March candidacy.

The mayor of Caserta, Carlo Marino, commented on the investigation by speaking generically of “full confidence in the work of the judiciary and the police”. «At the same time – she said – we hope that the people involved in the investigation, which concerns individual episodes, can clarify their position as soon as possible». Mayor Marino has assumed on an interim basis the delegations of the councilor involved, i.e. Public Works, the Municipal Police, Traffic and Roads, Civil Protection, the Plan for the Elimination of Architectural Barriers and Relations with the hamlets.