Mayor of Cusano Mutri arrested today for asking for 50% bribe on post-flood works

Bribes related to post-flood construction: this is the accusation that led to the house arrest of the mayor of Cusano Mutri in the province of Benevento, Giuseppe Maria Maturo, 52, and his trusted external technician, surveyor Remo Di Muzio, 43. The investigation by the Benevento prosecutor's office, led by Aldo Policastro, was triggered by a complaint from a construction contractor who had been asked for a 50 percent bribe on the cost of emergency construction work. This morning, the Carabinieri of Benevento executed the preliminary investigations judge's order: both arrested are charged with conspiracy to commit extortion. A Cusano Mutri city councilor and the director of the Municipal Technical Office are also under investigation. The flood devastated a vast area of ​​the Sannio region in October 2015. In April 2017, the Carabinieri were reported to the mayor for "an extortion scheme implemented by the mayor in collaboration with a technician external to the municipal administration," according to the order. The works contracted following the flood involved two extremely urgent contracts: the sewer system repair along the Titerno stream, for a value of €22,000, and the riverbed repair of the same stream, in the Limata area, for a value of €13,000. The investigation, which lasted ten months, allowed investigators to gather various evidence against the mayor. Maturo allegedly pressured and threatened the complainant's company ("What's next?") to no longer allow him to work on behalf of the municipality. A Carabinieri video documents the businessman's payment of €2,000 (the first installment of a €6.500 bribe) to the surveyor who acted as an intermediary. Mayor Maturo is also accused of other incidents. He allegedly forced the businessman, as part of the consolidation of the elementary school in the hamlet of Civitella Licinio, to outsource electrical work to a more expensive company other than the one chosen by the company; and finally, to perform terracing work free of charge on his wife's land. "This is a bitter affair," commented Prosecutor Policastro during the press conference attended by the provincial commander of the Carabinieri, Puel, and the commander of the Carabinieri Operations Unit, Zerella, "because it concerns the restriction of free enterprise during a particular period, the one following the 2015 flood."