Bribes, Mayor of Otranto and President of Federalberghi Lecce Arrested

Bribes, Mayor of Otranto and President of Federalberghi Lecce arrested. In total, 60 people are already under investigation.

The mayor of Otranto, Pierpaolo Cariddi, suspended from office after being banned from residing in Italy since July 8th, and the president of Federalberghi in Lecce, Raffaele De Santis, were among the 10 people arrested this morning by the Carabinieri and the Guardia di Finanza.

Pierpaolo Cariddi and his brother Luciano, the former mayor of Otranto, were taken to prison, while the other eight suspects were placed under house arrest. Those arrested face various charges of criminal conspiracy to commit multiple crimes against public administration and the administration of justice, electoral corruption, fraud in criminal proceedings, obstruction of justice, interference with the freedom of auctions, and fraud against the Italian state and the EU.

The investigation into the alleged entanglement of business and politics that led to the imprisonment of the mayor and former mayor of Otranto, brothers Pierpaolo and Luciano Cariddi, has led to the placement of eight other people under house arrest: the former head of the Technical Office of the Municipality of Otranto, Emanuele Maria Maggiulli, 56; the municipal technical instructor Roberto Aloisio, 50; the former head of the landscape office, Giuseppe Tondo, 69; the designer believed to be Luciano Cariddi's front man, Marco Maggio, 40; and the Otranto businessmen Salvatore Giannetta, 63; the president of Federalberghi Lecce, Raffaele (known as 'Mimmo') De Santis, 76; Roberto De Santis, 64; and Luigi Bleve, 61.

A total of 60 people are under investigation. (The investigations that led to the arrests confirm - according to the investigators - that the 'modus operandi' of the public officials under investigation was "inspired, in addition to personal enrichment, to ensure pools of electoral consensus through personal management of power structures at both local and regional levels".

This morning's investigation also led to the preventive seizure of tourist accommodation facilities, beach resorts, agritourism businesses, various real estate units and numerous sums of money, with an estimated value of several million euros, "illegally authorised or created - it is said in a note - in violation of building and landscape regulations".

The investigation by the Salento judiciary would have brought to light "a consolidated system of corrupt political and business associations, which has long pervaded a specific municipal administration, involving administrators and officials 'too close' to certain entrepreneurs with economic interests in that town. These interests were cultivated through rigged contract awards and the granting of municipal concessions, offering various benefits, even to the point of securing a 'pool of votes' through the electoral support received by some of the suspects, as well as financial and financial advantages for the remainder."