Guardia di Finanza discovers ring of bribes for public contracts: 4 arrests

The Guardia di Finanza of Brescia has executed four personal precautionary measures, the seizure of approximately 450 thousand euros and seven searches in the provinces of Brescia, Milan, Bergamo, Novara and Chieti.

The investigations, coordinated by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Brescia, brought to light a criminal association aimed at corruption for acts contrary to official duties, the disturbance of the freedom of auctions, the unauthorized access to a computer system and the failure to submit declarations. Three people ended up in prison and one under house arrest.

The investigations revealed a “criminal mechanism that would have allowed a Bergamo-based company to win, for over 12 million euros, various tenders issued by an important state-owned company”.

 Enel employee filmed while pocketing a 70 euro bribe

In particular, a disloyal Enel employee of the state-owned company allegedly received, in cash, over 70 thousand euros on several occasions, in exchange for confidential information on tenders.

The financial police also discovered that the Bergamo-based company had made numerous unauthorized accesses to the computer systems of another state-owned company, to view the offers of other companies participating in the tenders.

Furthermore, the Bergamo company and two other companies linked to the suspects allegedly compensated false credits for a total amount of over 3,8 million euros and failed to declare approximately 400 thousand euros of VAT.

The company involved in the investigation is Valcart of Rogno, a company that deals with waste management. Valcart had already ended up at the center of another investigation for an arson attack that occurred in 2019.

The investigation by the Guardia di Finanza of Brescia has brought to light a serious case of corruption that allowed a company to win public contracts worth over 12 million euros.

The investigations are still ongoing and it cannot be ruled out that other elements against the suspects may emerge.