Toti arrested, the wiretaps: «I’m thrown into the boat by Aldo Spinelli, let’s make the extension so it’s calm»

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
GENOA – He chose Giovanni Totihe asked the privacy of Aldo Spinelli’s magnificent yacht «Leila» to negotiate. A “caution”, which did not prevent the investigators from capturing the conversations with which he would have agreed to to obtain the Genoese entrepreneur large favors in exchange for funds for the electoral campaigns. This is why the governor of Liguria, who has sold out “his function, his powers”, is under house arrest at the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office led by Nicola Piacente, and because, writes the investigating judge Paola Faggiani, he could commit «on the occasion of the next elections, similar corrupt conduct, putting his function at the service of private interests», while in the background emerges (not for Toti ) a worrying trend of electoral corruption aggravated by mafia purposes. A disconcerting picture outlined by the 654 pages of the precautionary custody order which also led to prison the former president of the port authority Paolo Emilio Signorini, now president of Iren.

The exclusive beach of «Punta dell’Olmo»

Aldo Spinelli and his son Roberto, to transform the free beach of «Punta dell’Olmo» into the private beach of a luxury resort, they need the Region. It’s September 1, 2021, while having lunch on board the Leila 2, Toti calls one of his regional councilors: “We need to find a solution.” The other replies: «You have to find it for me, dear Gio!» . “We’ll put ourselves there… but let’s rationalize the free ones that are equipped there, let’s merge, let’s move”, in the meantime “let’s put a foot in, then we’ll see”, suggests the governor. According to the accusation, for this “corrupt exchange” the Spinelli group paid bribes amounting to 65 thousand euros to the Toti Committee and the Change foundation (which Toti heads).

Bulk Terminal

The beach seems like a secondary theme, the real interest is the extension of the concession on 100 thousand square meters of the beach at the Bulk Port Terminal. Same day, same yacht, Toti calls Paolo Emilio Signorini, then president of the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority. Toti: «I’m thrown into the boat by… by Aldo, when we bring this extension to him in the Committee, so that (…) we can reason (…) and we’ll put him at ease».
The president of the Authority has no problems: «Tell him not to worry (…) we will do everything within two weeks».
Toti laughs: «He says that two weeks is a long time (…) let’s try to do it as soon as possible».
An hour later, the prosecutors note, Toti calls his secretary to inform her that a payment has arrived to his Committee, but it will take three months to resolve the issue. On December 2nd, finally, the approval.
«Now we’re going to celebrate, come on, bring some caviar» he states, and closes: «so we can talk a bit because now there are elections, we need a hand».

long S

It’s almost time for the Genoa municipal elections in June 2022. Francesco Moncada, member of the Esselunga board of directors and husband of Sylvia, daughter of the founder Caprotti, asks Toti and the coordinator of his electoral campaign Matteo Cozzani (under house arrest) to oil the building practices of a supermarket in Sestri Ponente and another in Savona. In exchange he offers to finance electoral messages for the mayor’s “Toti per Bucci” list. In practice, the advertising on a big screen in the center of Genoa, paid for by Esselunga for its supermarkets, will be shown to the mayoral candidate.

On March 17, 2022, Moncada makes a curious hands-free phone call to Renato Brunettathen Minister for Public Administration, from Toti’s office, who evidently does not reveal his presence, saying that he «needs President Toti to solve the problem of two supermarkets». Brunetta replies that he is organizing the meeting. When everything is resolved, Moncada to Toti: «So we are all in the right place?», the governor: «We are aligned on everything». The investigators, who requested precautionary measures on December 27, seem to have other cards to discover because from the investigations emerge “further events, still the subject of further investigation, which saw the involvement of further entrepreneurs who (…) were followed by donations of financing”.

Casino and chips

Spinelli also establishes a personal relationship with Signorini. The Port Authority is decisive for business, for example in turning a blind eye to the illegal occupations of state land, and Signorini’s role will end within a few years. The proposal is a contract worth 300 thousand euros a year and an office in Rome, but in the meantime the bond is strengthened with the beauty of 22 weekends in Monte Carlo (for 42 nights) including massages, suites, exclusive tables in gourmet restaurants and free chips at roulette. Signorini goes there, always paid for by the Spinellis, in the company of friends and without sparing any expense. Not only that, he asks for and receives, according to investigations by the Genoa Financial Police, 15 thousand euros for the catering of his daughter’s wedding, and even a smartwatch for a friend for her birthday, who is not the same one he stayed with. once in the Principality at the Hotel de Paris. In total, the Spinellis will pay over 74 thousand euros for their stays in Monte Carlo.

The shadow of the mafia

The investigation that has turned Liguria upside down starts from an investigation by the La Spezia Prosecutor’s Office which revealed the management of a package of votes intended for Toti and coming from people originally from Riesi (Caltanissetta) but residing in Genoa. They would be holding the ranks the brothers Italo Maurizio and Arturo Angelo Testa, exponents of Forza Italia in Lombardy, considered very close to the regional coordinator Alessandro Sorte, and Venanzio Maurici, retired trade unionist from the CGIL. For the two Testa brothers, who were suspended from the party, residence obligation due to electoral corruption aggravated by the aim of facilitating Cosa Nostra. Votes, however, had to have jobs in exchange. For the prosecutors, it would have been the current head of cabinet Matteo Cozzani who intervened. Sorte indicated Arturo Angelo Testa to him as a candidate, but then nothing was done about an old photo of a Roman salute in front of the bust of Mussolini which could surface again. So it was decided to divert the votes to the Toti list, which made Cozzani worry: “I wouldn’t want to end up with the Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate.”

May 8, 2024 (modified May 8, 2024 | 08:04)

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