According to the investigators' reconstruction, the tender for the concession for the development of the Rione Terra in Pozzuoli was rigged to ensure that Musella 's company won.
Former mayor Figliolia allegedly received the promise of sums of money and the hiring of people he liked in Musella's companies. Palmucci allegedly worked to find potential partners to partner with the winning company, willing, if awarded the contract, to grant Musella and, through him, Figliolia, exclusive management of the tourism, food, and retail services.
Oddati , at the time of the events a member of the PD's national leadership and currently a director of the Campania Region, is considered Musella's "trustee" in the search for "illicit relationships and contacts" useful for facilitating the awarding of concessions and contracts for works by public administrations, in exchange for the "periodic payment of sums of money and other benefits".
In this case, Oddati would have worked to define the collusive agreements for the awarding of the Rione Terra tender.
The investigation began in 2022 , following a complaint filed by several citizens. Investigators acquired a series of documents, including wiretaps and environmental recordings, which allowed them to reconstruct the accusation.
Preliminary Investigating Judge Antonio Baldassarre ordered the arrest of Figliolia, Oddati, Palmucci, and Musella, as well as house arrest for three others. Three others were ordered to report to the judicial police.
The "Rione Terra" investigation is a new episode of corruption affecting Campania . The implication of prominent figures in local politics and business demonstrates the gravity of the situation.
The investigation erupted in April 2022 with the searches of a dozen suspects. Investigators from the Naples Finance Police's Pef unit worked through a mass of wiretaps and photographic reports, which revealed evidence of contracts tailored for Musella, a friend of Oddati, who served the entrepreneur's interests by providing him with confidential information and introducing him to political decision-making circles. The investigation focused in particular on the redevelopment contracts for the Rione Terra neighborhood and the plan for a multi-story parking lot in the former Regia quarry.
When Oddati was stopped at Termini Station with 15 thousand euros in his backpack
Some of these photographs revealed the results of a search of Oddati's backpack at Rome's central station: it contained €14 in cash. Oddati justified the money by claiming it was the money from the Taranto Democratic Party membership drive , for which he was commissioner at the time. He was exposed as a liar by national treasurer Walter Verini , who, when questioned by prosecutors, said: "We only accept traceable contributions, paid in compliance with the law... this is certainly not usual, and the current membership procedures are different."
According to the investigating judge, what has emerged from the investigation by the Naples Public Prosecutor's Office into alleged rigged tenders, which culminated this morning with the execution of 11 precautionary measures, is "a glimpse of casual corruption rooted in the Municipality of Pozzuoli. "
The investigations and wiretaps were triggered by "a very important discovery" in the archives of entrepreneur Salvatore Musella following a previous search.
From the very first stages of the investigation, it emerged that Musella had focused his attention on the highly significant and lucrative concession that the Municipality of Pozzuoli was soon to announce and then award for the management of the Antica Rocca complex in the Rione Terra district.
The “Rione Terra” Investigation: The Role of Former Mayor Vincenzo Figliolia
According to the investigators' reconstruction, Figliolia played a central role in the bid-rigging that led to the awarding of the tender to Salvatore Musella's company.
The intention of the then mayor was to transform the buildings of Rione Terra into a hospitality structure to be built in the form of a widespread hotel. Musella, on the other hand, wanted to win the concession "at all costs".
For this reason, he would have worked to approach the top management of the local municipal authority and ensure their collaboration.
Thanks to the mediation of Nicola Oddati, former national leader of the PD and at the time of the events manager of the Campania Region , a "business committee" was created which would "work to organize all the activities necessary to secure the award of the Rione Terra concession".
In particular, the committee would have dealt with:
identify partners for submitting the application to participate in the tender;
identify the members of the proposal evaluation committee;
manage the tender procedures, its development and its outcomes.
All these acts would have been done “in a logic that is absolutely functional to obtaining the concession for the group created by Musella”.
In particular, Figliolia allegedly received the promise of sums of money and the hiring of people he liked in Musella's companies.
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Chronicles of Campania
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