He will be heard tomorrow afternoon at 2pm by judges Giovanni Toti, who will be under house arrest from Tuesday in his home in Ameglia, in the province of La Spezia. «The president – said his lawyer Stefano Savi – is well determined to examine and delve into the documents in order to present a defense that explains how everything contained in the facts that are referred to in the documents themselves must be interpreted differently in light of the politics that has always followed him and the region he leads with respect to the protection exclusively of public and not private interests, the interests of the territory also pursued through forms that may have led to misunderstandings but which in reality have never bordered on anything illicit”.
FOR INVESTIGATORS Toti had set up an authentic system of favors for companies and entrepreneurs in the port of Genoa in exchange for funding, openly and some less transparently, for his foundation and the party for electoral campaigns. And again: promises of jobs and public housing in exchange. Always in exchange for votes. Gip Paola Faggioni writes in her ordinance: «to obtain election or re-election» one was «sold off one’s function and one’s activity in exchange for funding, thus abdicating one’s important institutional duties». Hence the involvement of entrepreneurs such as Aldo Spinelli and Francesco Moncada, director of Esselunga. According to the governor’s defence, there would be no sign of wrongdoing, because everything would have been done not for personal interests but “for the good of the territory”. Given the enormous amount of paperwork from the investigation, in any case, it is likely that Toti will make use of the right not to respond tomorrow. Meanwhile, another dozen suspects have emerged, in addition to the 25 already known. There would also be Paolo Piacenza, extraordinary commissioner of the Port System Authority of the Western Ligurian Sea, investigated for abuse of office and searched yesterday by the financial police. Another search at Spinelli’s home revealed 200,000 euros in cash which3 would be part of the 570,000 euros of which the investigating judge Faggioni ordered the preventive seizure. The seizure is also requested against the then president of the port authority Paolo Signorini and Spinelli’s son, Roberto, because they “profited from the alleged corruption crimes”.
YESTERDAY a meeting of the regional council was also held in the afternoon, with vice president Alessandro Piana acting as the arrested governor. No declaration, apart from a fairly obvious profession of “normality”, with an announcement of approval of some resolutions. The politically postponed appointment will however take place in the next few days, with a majority meeting in which the “strength of the coalition” will be discussed. Delicate matter: one of the most popular hypotheses involves the fall of the council by the Brothers of Italy. Giorgia Meloni reacted coldly to Toti’s arrest, and she too limited herself to a few formal words to comment on the case. Moreover, the prime minister’s party has not been affected by the investigation so far and putting an early end to the council could help avoid worse trouble. The natural expiry of Toti’s mandate would be in September 2025. Looking at it now it seems like a date dangerously light years away.
