Palma Campania, the mayor asked for hiring in exchange for superfluous services

The mayor of Palma Campania, Aniello Donnarumma allegedly provided his support to entrepreneurs in order to obtain political advantages.

The Nola prosecutor's office alleges that Donnarumma sought positions at various companies and a discount chain in exchange for the assignment of services and work deemed unnecessary because they were already performed by the municipality. In one case, the mayor is said to have intervened to hire a municipal police officer recommended by one of the business owners involved.

Among the services interceded for are those related to Covid-19 food vouchers, rental subsidies, cleaning and sanitation services, and security for municipal buildings. It is alleged that Donnarumma facilitated the construction of a discount store in exchange for donations promised by a company representative. The construction took place despite an administrative appeal that highlighted procedural shortcomings and incompatibilities.

One wiretap deemed significant by investigators is the conversation between Donnarumma and businessman Antonio Nunziata on December 20, 2021. In the conversation, the two men appear to express a desire to misuse public funds, despite the need for cooperation from municipal officials. The meeting highlights the businessman's concerns about obstacles in a waste management tender and the need to "expand the operational platform," which is interpreted as a desire to influence the functions of municipal employees.

The Nola preliminary investigations judge highlighted that the material acquired during the investigation documents Donnarumma's highly personalistic management of public affairs, directing the decisions of his executives not always in the public interest, but rather in favor of private individuals.

"From now until the next 6-7 months... twenty million in funding is coming in, but who's going to manage it, you and me?" The investigators consider the conversation between the mayor of Palm Campania Aniello Donnarumma and the entrepreneur Antonio Nunziata, included in the documents of the investigation by the Carabinieri of Castello di Cisterna and the Nola prosecutor's office, which today led to the mayor being placed under house arrest and Nunziata being placed under a prohibitory measure.

 The mayor to a businessman: "In six or seven months, 20 million euros will arrive."

The conversation, dating back to December 20, 2021, is interpreted by investigators as emblematic of the will of the two interlocutors to continue to manage public funds in an illicit manner even if, it is specified, the spontaneous or otherwise collaboration of municipal managers is considered fundamental.

The two are in a car, and a snag caused by some officials in connection with a waste management tender infuriates the entrepreneur, who vents his anger at the mayor. The two ultimately agree on the need to "expand the operational platform," which they interpret as a need to influence the functions of municipal employees. Some of these employees, in fact, confirmed to investigators the mayor's "often unsustainable" interference, which, it is emphasized, "he conceives the municipal body as a company".

For the preliminary investigations judge of Nola the material acquired during the investigations "documents how Donnarumma assumed a highly personalistic management of public affairs, directing the decisions ... of his managers, not always in the interest of the community but rather in the interests of private individuals."