An honorary deputy prosecutor of the Lecce Court and a lawyer, along with five other individuals, are accused of manipulating investigations and closing them for a fee. The charges include bribery in the performance of their duties, bribery in judicial proceedings, undue influence, and extortion.
The investigation, coordinated by the Potenza prosecutor's office and conducted by the Guardia di Finanza, led to searches in several cities, not only in Puglia, but also in Campania and in the province of Rome. Other investigations, generated by wiretaps, are underway at the Benevento prosecutor's office.
The two main suspects are Antonio Zito, a 57-year-old lawyer resident in the province of Taranto, who serves as honorary vice-prosecutor at the Court of Lecce, and the lawyer Giancarlo De Valerio, 47 years old, born in Mesagne (Brindisi) and resident in Manduria (Taranto), registered with the Bar of Lecce.
The investigation revolves around their involvement in the alleged cover-up of investigations involving a Swiss entrepreneur, who allegedly paid 12.000 euros for this reason and is also under investigation. Two officials of the Taranto ASL and a doctor from the same ASL are also involved.
The investigation was launched last year following reports received by the Guardia di Finanza regarding alleged crimes committed by the honorary magistrate, who in addition to serving as honorary vice-prosecutor at the Lecce prosecutor's office, also works as a criminal lawyer in the Taranto area with a firm in Crispiano.
Zito is also involved in a parallel investigation opened by the Benevento prosecutor's office for other crimes, resulting from wiretaps discovered during the investigation conducted by the Guardia di Finanza.
In total, the subjects investigated in the two investigations are about ten. Today's searches, during which documentation was acquired for investigative purposes, were carried out in various cities, including Lecce, Taranto, Naples, Benevento and the province of Rome.
This is not the first time that an investigation has involved judicial activity in Lecce: last May, the Apulian magistrate Pietro Errede, previously in service at the Salento Court and subsequently transferred to Bologna, was placed under house arrest together with three accountants as part of an investigation into extortion, corruption in judicial acts, disturbed freedom of auctions and extortion in the bankruptcy Court.
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