NAPLES – Preliminary hearing judge Enrico Campoli sentenced Danilo Iervolino, entrepreneur and former owner of Pegaso University and Salernitana Calcio, to four years in prison for corruption.
The sentence, issued at the end of a trial held with an abbreviated procedure, accepts the request made by the public prosecutor Henry John Woodcock last September 16. The sentence also includes a ban for Iervolino from contracting with the Public Administration for four years.
The same fate befell Francesco Cavallaro, general secretary of CISAL, sentenced to five years of imprisonment, with the addition of a perpetual ban from holding public office and a ban on contracting with the Public Administration for five years. Two years and eight months, instead, were inflicted on Mario Rosario Miele, collaborator of Iervolino.
Acquittal, however, for Francesco Fimmanò, scientific director of the Pegaso University. For him, the public prosecutor had requested the downgrading of the crime of corruption to illicit influence peddling, but the Court of Cassation had declared some wiretaps unusable, leading to his acquittal.
The investigation, conducted by the Economic and Financial Police Unit of the Guardia di Finanza of Naples and coordinated by the Naples Public Prosecutor's Office, concerned alleged episodes of corruption linked to the release of a favorable opinion by the Ministry of Labor. This opinion, initially denied, was essential to allow the division of the Encal-Inpal patronage into Encal-Cisal and Inpal, thus ensuring that the CISAL union would retain economic and patrimonial advantages.
According to the prosecution, the favorable opinion would have been granted in exchange for personal benefits for two directors of the Ministry of Labor: Concetta Ferrari and Fabia D'Andrea. Ferrari, who at the time of the facts was the general director for Social Security and Insurance Policies and later the general secretary of the ministry, would have obtained the hiring of her son Antonio Rossi as an extraordinary professor at the Pegaso University. Fabia D'Andrea, deputy chief of staff of the minister, would instead have facilitated the careers of two acquaintances, one within the INPS and the other in an association linked to Cavallaro.
Concetta Ferrari and Fabia D'Andrea have been sent for trial, and their trial is underway before the Court of Naples. Among the other defendants is Antonio Rossi, accused of having obtained an academic position thanks to corrupt agreements. The investigation, defined by the Prosecutor's Office as an example of the intertwining of personal interests and administrative activities, highlights the risks of contamination between public institutions and private entities in the Italian landscape.
Article published on 13 December 2024 - 11:21
It is a very complex case and Iervolino's conviction makes us reflect on how difficult the world of corruption can be. We hope that these sentences will help improve the situation in Italy and ensure more transparency.