Not even a year after Iren’s appointment, the North-West energy multi-utility finds itself without a leader again. In the Genoa investigation not only the Ligurian governor Giovanni Toti he ended up under arrest. Nine other people are involved in the maxi investigation by the Anti-Mafia District Directorate and the Financial Police, including these the CEO of Iren, Paolo Emilio Signorini, 61 years old, who was arrested and taken to prison on charges of corruption “for the exercise of his function and for acts contrary to official duties”.
Iren’s note
Iren learned this morning from the press of the application of an order of precautionary measures against the CEO Paolo Signorini ordered by the Judicial Authority of Genoa. The crimes contested and reported in the press release of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Genoa refer to his previous role as President of the Port System Authority of the Western Ligurian Sea and therefore do not concern Iren.
The group has already activated the procedures necessary to immediately guarantee full business continuity. The powers temporarily revoked from Iren CEO Paolo Signorini went to president Luca Dal Fabbro and vice president Moris Ferretti. This was decided by the board of directors which “took note of the objective temporary impossibility of the CEO to exercise his powers and with the aim of ensuring stability and continuity in company management, activated the provisions of the internal contingency plan to the group”. The board decided to temporarily revoke the CEO’s powers, assigning them to the other two delegated bodies.
Who is Signorini
Facts which do not concern the management of Iren, the North-West multi-utility owned by the Municipalities of Turin, Genoa and Reggio Emilia, but for activities linked to the previous role of Signorini, who was president of the Port System Authority of the Western Ligurian Sea . Signorini arrived at the helm of Iren in August 2023, not even a year ago, approximately three months after the resignation, in June 2023, of the old CEO, Vittorio Armani, who moved to Enel. A name chosen for Iren by the Genoese public partner, the Municipality, and in particular by mayor Marco Bucci. Signorini is considered a trusted man of the mayor of the city of Lanterna. And it was Bucci who indicated his name to the other two mayors, Stefano Lo Russo, from Turin, and Luca Vecchi, from Reggio Emilia.
Signorini, who can boast studies at Yale after University in Florence, began his career at Bank of Italy et al Ministry of Economy and Financehe was subsequently Head of the Department for Planning and Coordination of Economic Policies at the presidency of the Council of Ministers (2008-2013) e head of department for Infrastructure, Information Systems and Statistics at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (2013-2015). He has been a member of boards of directors operating in the infrastructure and transport sectors such as Italferr And Telt SaS. She has held since 2016 to 2023 the position of president of the Port System Authority of the Western Ligurian Sea. It’s not the first time he’s ended up in an investigation. Already in 2014 his name had appeared in the papers of the investigation on the Mose in Venice. Why the entrepreneur’s Consorzio Venezia Nuova Giovanni Mazzacurati had paid for Signorini’s holiday in Tuscany who was at the Ministry of Infrastructure at the time. His name had appeared in the Mose clique, but he was not under investigation.
Resignation and new CEO
It is likely that during the day Iren will reiterate that the alleged facts contested by the Genoa prosecutor’s office do not concern the company, also because they are passages that date back to before Signorini’s appointment. And it is also probable that Signorini, as soon as possible, will resign, so that the delegations may pass to the president of Iren, Luca Dal Fabbro, and to the deputy, Moris Ferretti. The search for a new CEO will then restart, which must be identified by the three public shareholders, but the burden of the proposal falls on the CEO, which is the shareholder with the majority share, and on Mayor Bucci. It is probable that on this occasion, given the events in Liguria, the choice will be more unanimous.
Against Signorini, as well as the entrepreneur Aldo Spinelli and his son Roberto, the investigating judge also ordered the preventive seizure of financial resources and assets for 570,000 eurosdeemed profit from the alleged corruption crimes.
What is being complained to Signorini
TO Gentlemenas president of the Port System Authority of the Western Ligurian Sea, is accused of having accepted from Spinelli “utilities and other promises of utility in exchange for the commitment to accelerate the scheduling of the practice in the management committee, chaired by Signorini, renewal of the Terminal Rinfuse concession to Terminal Rinfuse Genova Srl, a 55% subsidiary of Spinelli Ltd., and for having renewed the aforementioned concession for thirty years. Signorini would also have granted additional port spaces in the remaining three years of his mandate, and in particular in the concession of Enel areas (formerly Carbonile) and in the practice of “tombing” Calata Concenter. It would also have allowed Spinelli to illegally occupy the area of the former Carbonile on the eastern and southern sides in the absence of a legitimizing title. All in exchange for money
Money and luxury stays with beautician and massages
In exchange the former president of the port of Genoa he would have received 15,000 euros in cash from Spinelli in July 2022also being able to count on luxury stays in Monte Carlo from December 2021 to March 2023 at the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo, for a total of 42 nights, also including casino games and extra services such as room services, massages and beauty treatments. For Signorini also a tent place on the hotel’s beach during the summer period and participation in exclusive events, such as the final of the “Rolex Monte Carlo Masters” international tennis tournament or themed evenings with an adjoining musical show, reserved for the most important customers of the Monte Carlo Casino for a total value of more than 42,000 euros, as well as chips for placing bets at the Monte Carlo Casino, and also a Chanel bag and a Cartier brand gold bracelet worth 7,200 euros which is intended for other people.
The entrepreneur offered Signorini a position with a salary of 300,000 euros per year once his mandate as president of the Port System Authority had ended and he would be able to have, during a planned trip to Las Vegas, a large amount of money, drawing from the availability of Spinelli’s credit cards.
Signorini is also accused of having received from Mauro Vianello (owner of 54.19% of the shares of the company Santa Barbara Srl, active in the business sector concerning transport and communications and specialized in Fire Prevention, Surveillance and First Response services within the port of Genoa), against of a provision which provided for the increase in the hourly rate for the provision of the company’s supplementary service, the availability of a car owned by Vianello to reach and return from Monte Carlo on the dates of 15 and 18 April 2022 respectively. Vianello would also have paid the invoice for the wedding banquet of Signorini’s daughter: 6,600.00, given an Apple watch of value of 439 euros, which would have been intended for others, and a stay in the apartment owned by Vianello in August 2022 made available by the entrepreneur to Signorini’s wife and daughter.
