At the Palace of Justice, people informed about the facts in the context of the investigation which led to the president of the Liguria Region, Giovanni Toti, under house arrest and from which the public ministers Federico Manotti And Luca Monteverde they expect to obtain useful information for the investigation
The first to be listened to were the deputy Ilaria Cavo and the entrepreneur Beatrice Cozzi Parodiboth not investigated.
Cavo would be, according to the investigators and following the wiretaps, one of the politician-candidates who were the subject of the pact between the now former chief of staff of the President of the Region Giovanni Toti (under house arrest), Matteo Cozzani (under house arrest) ei Testa brothers, now burdened with the obligation to stay, and who have been charged with the aggravating circumstance referred to in articles 416 bis. 1 of the penal code, which deals with mafia associations.
To ask for votes for Ilaria Cavo to Italo Maurizio Testa it would have been Toti himself: «Toti took me aside and said to me “listen, I know you are two bulldozers, let me give some votes to Ilaria Cavo”. So we are diverting, if we can, 150, 200 votes to this one” is heard in the interception of a phone call between Testa and his wife, Columbus girl.
However, it would have been Cozzani who promised jobs to people indicated by the brothers Arturo Angelo and Italo Maurizio Testa in exchange for their vote in favor of the Cavo e. candidates Lilli Lauro (both not investigated) e Stefano Anzalone (investigated). The circumstance, according to the investigators, «clearly emerges from the content of the telephone and electronic interceptions and from the behavior actually carried out by the Testa brothers following the elections, aimed at respecting the promises made».
In an exchange of WhatsApp messages between Matteo Cozzanie Italo Maurizio Testa of 11 September 2020, the second writes: «(…) We are of our word, 200 votes we will give a hand to Ilaria but only because we promised them to you and we keep our word you will see that in Certosa there will be Anzalone Cavo coupled».
Cozzani responds by reiterating his full adherence to the pact: «I remind you that for me the word is worth more than a contract!». Italo Maurizio Testa, reiterating the agreement, confirms their commitment to the identified candidates: «Then let those who know us well tell you if we are worth more than a hundred signatures. Tomorrow evening I will introduce you to someone who is worth 50».
On 22 September 2020, Cozzani addressed Italo Maurizio Testa thanking him for respecting the pact: “You have done your duty and I thank you”. The Riesino replies: “I told you, I stand by my word” and Toti’s then head of cabinet reassures him: “Don’t worry too.”
From the electoral results it emerges that the three candidates of the “Let’s change with Toti President” list Ilaria Cavo, Lilli (Laura by birth) Lauro and Stefano Anzalone obtained in the Certosa district (12 electoral sections) a percentage of preferences (in absolute terms, i.e. with reference to the number of preferences, and in percentage terms compared to the total preferences expressed towards all the candidates in the elections (231) far higher than that obtained by them in the other remaining sections (644 electoral sections) of the Municipality of Genoa.
We remind you that Ilaria Cavo is not under investigation. From the interceptions it can be seen that on 20 August 2020, after speaking with Arturo Angelo Testa, Cozzani informed her of the electoral dinner being organized by the Testa brothers, in which approximately 300 people and the president Giovanni Toti would participate. She doesn’t seem willing to participate in this dinner and Cozzani tries to convince her. During this conversation, Cavo does not intend to indicate on the telephone the reasons for her doubts about the opportunity to attend the dinner, in relation to which she nevertheless declares herself available to participate, although she highlights the possibility of receiving “requests” as compensation for the support received from the organizers of the event: «I come and thank you, if I then have to have the messages of these… the requests of these I… do you understand?». Cozzani, who does not seem to share Cavo’s concerns, suggests participating anyway, in order to maximize the electoral result: «It’s like mortadella, little expense, lots of return… 10 days later there are elections, once you’ve done that , block the number and thank you and see you again” says Toti’s then head of cabinet. A system, that one, suggested by Cozzani, then used by Anzalone.
Beatrice Cozzi Parodi she was one of the companions of the former president of the port authority and former CEO of Iren, Paolo Emilio Signorini, currently detained, the only one of the suspects subject to precautionary custody in prison. Cozzi Parodi, according to wiretaps, received gifts, such as a Chanel bag with an unquantified cost, from Signorini, but these were paid for by the entrepreneur Aldo Spinelli, and spent time in Monte Carlo with the then president of AdSp, again partly at the logistics entrepreneur’s expense. In particular, on 31 December 2021, Spinelli allegedly gave the designer bag to Cozzi Parodi. “I gave her a nice gift…” is heard in one of the interceptions. The entrepreneur speaks, continuing «instead of doing it to Signorini I did it to her… I made her a bag… by Chanel…. you know how it is, it’s always better…”.
In the next few days, another woman who accompanied Signorini (not only) to Monte Carlo will also be questioned: Tamara Musso. She also received a gift from Spinelli, a gold bracelet by Cartier worth 7,200 euros. Musso would also have received from Mauro Vianelloentrepreneur operating in the Port area (recipient of the disqualification measure of the temporary ban on carrying out entrepreneurial and professional activities, accused of corruption against Paolo Emilio Signorini), one smartwatches.
In an interception, Vianello is heard asking his son to go and buy a watch for Tamara Musso, advising him to limit the expense as much as possible: «The kind that more or less sucks… – says Vianello -. The ugliest one there is, how much does it cost? 300! Don’t spend more. Yes, a small one worth 300… can you get me one for women?”. He then adds a harsh assessment towards the woman. In the end, spending had not been contained as much as Vianello had hoped. In fact, the watch then cost 439 euros, an expense charged to the company.
According to the prosecutors, this and other gifts (including part of the wedding reception of the daughter of the then president of the Western Ligurian Sea Port System Authority) in favor of Signorini were not justified «by a relationship of friendship, but, at the on the contrary, from pure interest and convenience in the prospect of receiving assignments, appointments and/or job opportunities”. For the investigators, the generosity of the businessman accused of corruption was due to a provision which ordered the increase in the hourly rate for the provision of the supplementary service of the Santa Barbara Srl company, of which Vianello holds 54.19% of the shares.
