Mayor of Venice and 34 others arrested for corruption

The mayor of Venice, Giorgio Orsoni, and 34 others, among which a regional councilor, several businessmen and even a retired general have been arrested early in the morning charged with offenses of corruption, embezzlement and money laundering in relation to the construction of the Moses project, a flood prevention system composed of 78 large gates to safeguard the lake and the city of rising sea level. The prosecution has also issued the request for arrest of deputy regional president and former Minister of Agriculture Giancarlo Galan, that must be approved by Parliament.

The arrests are the result of an investigation initiated by the Italian Fiance Police three years ago. The agents had discovered that the president of the construction company Mantovani, Giorgio Baita, and some of his associates had diverted 20 million euros to offshore accounts. After arrest, the investigation continued to determine who were the recipients of such funds. The conclusion can be read in this morning ‘s arrests. Prominent politicians from the center-left, as the mayor, Giorgio Orsoni, or regional director Giampiero Marchese, both the Democratic Party (PD), representatives of the center-right, as the regional advisor or deputy Renato Chisso Giancarlo Galan, the two Forza Italia (FI).

This is, again, the usual web of interests between politicians and corrupt businessmen taking advantage of public funds and questionable work in the city, both because of doubts about its effectiveness and the impact on the environment. The Moses project, which began in 2007 and had 2014 Estimated Completion Date, will not end – at least – until 2016 initial investment of 10,000 million euros, has quintupled.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=44889

Posted by Nadeem Bajwa on Jun 5 2014. Filed under Europe. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.