Antimafia councillor probed for mafia election fraud

(ANSA) - Salerno, September 18 - Regional Councillor Monica Paolino, president of the antimafia commission of the Campania regional council, was notified Friday that she is under investigation for political-mafia election trading related to last May's elections. Paolino's husband, Pasquale Aliberti, mayor of the town of Scafati, is also named in the investigation which includes corruption and abuse of office.
Paolino, a member of former premier Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, said she took the news of the investigation with "immense regret and surprise" for "being investigated for crimes related to facts of which I know absolutely nothing about". Police seized documents from the home she shares with Aliberti and her office at the regional council. "In any case, I am calm, and remain faithful in the magistrate's work," Paolino said. In Scafani, police seized procurement contracts from the city offices, one of which involved a six-million-euro school complex. Carabinieri police said the investigation was started in November 2014 when a homemade explosive went off in front of the home of the sister and brother-in-law of Vittorio D'Alessandro, a lawyer and member of the Scafati city council. Police said that episode led them to focus their attention on some public contracts that they believe were awarded illegitimately.