Salerno. 'Hunger for money' and coded language: this is the system organized by two judges of the Tax Commission of Salerno to steer cases and avoid paying millions of euros to well-known entrepreneurs. The system revealed by the men of the Guardia di Finanza, coordinated by the deputy prosecutors Elena Guarino and Luigi Lucio Caccavale led to 14 arrests this morning, two judges of the tax commission F. S. and GDC, two administrative employees, six entrepreneurs and four tax consultants, all with no criminal record, on charges of corruption in judicial acts. “A hunger for money such as to postpone a very delicate surgical operation” just to not miss the hearing to decide a case that had to be 'rigged'. The investigating judge of Salerno, Pietro Indinnimeo, was very harsh in the order notified this morning, in describing the conduct of one of the two arrested judges. An order issued by the investigating judge in “very rapid time”, the acting chief prosecutor of Salerno, Luca Masini, underlined in a press conference, for an “investigation that has allowed us to reveal a system of corruption that is extremely dangerous and damaging for the State”. The investigation "represents only the tip of the iceberg", writes the investigating judge, and for the deputy prosecutor of Salerno, Luigi Alberto Cannavale, there is the "sadness of having to strike those who have established a justice function for personal interests". Masini emphasizes that the Public Prosecutor's Office "necessarily had to, in order to interrupt the criminal activities, file and conclude the investigations early because the corruption cases were gradually programmed on a daily basis, day by day". Furthermore, the ordinance refers, said the provincial commander of the Guardia di Finanza of Salerno, General Danilo Petrucelli, "to the evening of November 23, 2018. That evening, after a sentence, the two employees were having dinner at a restaurant with the CEO of a company to celebrate." The transfer of money always took place in cash, the day before the decision of the Tax Commission and in specific places, such as the commission's elevator. The amounts paid to the two judges to obtain favorable sentences ranged between 5 and 30 thousand euros. To date, ten procedures have been identified whose progress was affected by corruption. Overall, according to an initial estimate, the evaded taxes, accrued interests and administrative sanctions cancelled with the decisions conditioned by corruption amount to approximately 15 million euros. A company from Siano, for example, obtained, through corruption, the cancellation of a debt of over eight million euros; for another, from Salerno, instead, the contested and cancelled sum reached almost one million euros. In addition to the precautionary measures, searches were also carried out in the offices of the Tax Commission and in the homes and offices of other professionals under investigation whose position is being assessed. Over 50 thousand euros in cash were found and seized from one of the two employees of the Tax Commission. The entrepreneurs were all from the Salerno area, except one from the Avellino area.
The defendants, according to what was ascertained by the investigators, used coded language. The tax appeals to be 'fixed' became "buy a car", instead, the money price of corruption "mozzarella".
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