(ANSA) - Florence, June 11 - A trial of three public
officials and a businessman for alleged graft in public tenders
for a new police academy in Florence has been moved from the
Tuscan capital to Rome.
The ruling by the supreme court of Cassation means that
the trial, scheduled to open on June 15, will now have to start
all over again.
The former head of the state public works office, Angelo Balducci, 54; Rome businessman Diego Anemone, 38; the Tuscany region's public works contractor Fabio De Santis, 61; and civil servant Mauro Della Giovampaola, 44, are accused of bribery to land the contract for a new Carabinieri training school on the outskirts of Florence. The four deny wrongdoing. Lawyers for the four claimed on Friday that the transfer order should mean their clients would be automatically released from preventive custody, but the Cassation Court denied this. The supreme court of appeals ruled that the trial had to be moved because one of the judges was "incompatible," having signed a warrant at an early stage of the months-long probe.
The four are also being investigated by Perugia prosecutors looking into alleged graft in public tenders for work on other state venues, including the renovation of the original site of last year's Group of Eight summit on the Sardinian island of La Maddalena. Like the others, ex-public works chief Balducci has denied wrongdoing but has repeatedly seen his request to be released from jail turned down. Anemone has also been named in a probe into a shady Rome real estate deal over which industry minister Claudio Scajola resigned last month. Media reports have claimed Anemone paid most of the price, off the books, of the ex-minister's Rome flat overlooking the Colosseum. Scajola, who is not under investigation, has also denied wrongdoing. Civil Protection chief Guido Bertolaso, also being probed in connection with the La Maddalena venue, offered to quit last year but the resignation was turned down by Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who has staunchly defended him. Bertolaso was tasked by the government with supervising preparations for the G8 summit, which was held last July in the quake-hit city of L'Aquila. The national coordinator of Berlusconi's People of Freedom party, Denis Verdini, has also been implicated in probes stemming from the civil protection departments's arrogation of powers and bypassing of normal tender procedures for a raft of so-called 'Major Events'.
photo: Balducci
The former head of the state public works office, Angelo Balducci, 54; Rome businessman Diego Anemone, 38; the Tuscany region's public works contractor Fabio De Santis, 61; and civil servant Mauro Della Giovampaola, 44, are accused of bribery to land the contract for a new Carabinieri training school on the outskirts of Florence. The four deny wrongdoing. Lawyers for the four claimed on Friday that the transfer order should mean their clients would be automatically released from preventive custody, but the Cassation Court denied this. The supreme court of appeals ruled that the trial had to be moved because one of the judges was "incompatible," having signed a warrant at an early stage of the months-long probe.
The four are also being investigated by Perugia prosecutors looking into alleged graft in public tenders for work on other state venues, including the renovation of the original site of last year's Group of Eight summit on the Sardinian island of La Maddalena. Like the others, ex-public works chief Balducci has denied wrongdoing but has repeatedly seen his request to be released from jail turned down. Anemone has also been named in a probe into a shady Rome real estate deal over which industry minister Claudio Scajola resigned last month. Media reports have claimed Anemone paid most of the price, off the books, of the ex-minister's Rome flat overlooking the Colosseum. Scajola, who is not under investigation, has also denied wrongdoing. Civil Protection chief Guido Bertolaso, also being probed in connection with the La Maddalena venue, offered to quit last year but the resignation was turned down by Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who has staunchly defended him. Bertolaso was tasked by the government with supervising preparations for the G8 summit, which was held last July in the quake-hit city of L'Aquila. The national coordinator of Berlusconi's People of Freedom party, Denis Verdini, has also been implicated in probes stemming from the civil protection departments's arrogation of powers and bypassing of normal tender procedures for a raft of so-called 'Major Events'.
photo: Balducci
