Caserta – The Municipality of Caserta was dissolved due to Camorra infiltration. The decision, made official by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, follows an investigation that revealed a “worrying level of compromise” of the institution, led from June 2016 until last April by former Democratic Party mayor Carlo Marino.
The infiltrations, according to what emerged from the report by Minister Piantedosi attached to the Decree of the President of the Republic soon to be published in the Official Journal, concerned several key sectors of the municipal administration: from the management of public parking lots to social-assistance services, from work in schools and on the roads to maintenance of greenery.
Piantedosi denounced an “evident lack of legality in the administrative action and a precarious state of the municipal offices”, which have led to “managerial irregularities and a worrying level of compromise of the municipal administration”.
The minister also highlighted how the political-administrative structure was “constantly oriented towards eluding the principles of legality, transparency, impartiality and correctness”, a tendency aggravated by the “direct and indirect connections between the mayor, the former deputy mayor and the former councilor with organized crime”.
The report of the Prefecture of Caserta, signed by the prefect Lucia Volpe and attached to the DPR, was decisive for the Government's choice. The document is based on the findings of the Access Commission, established in the Municipality last August and which for six months has sifted through administrative acts and documents starting from the first Marino administration (2016).
The Prefecture also underlined the poor collaboration of the body, which "has shown itself to be highly reticent in collaborating with respect to the requests for document acquisition formulated by the commission itself, often producing partial documentation, lacking important information elements and containing in some cases erroneous and misleading elements".
Several cases have ended up in the sights of investigators. Among these, the investigations of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Santa Maria Capua Vetere into the illicit assignment of contracts in schools and for the management of green areas, which led to the arrest of Councilor Marzo and Manager Franco Biondi.
Biondi's position, despite his criminal record, was harshly criticized by Minister Piantedosi, who criticized former mayor Marino for continuing to assign him "managerial roles in the most strategic sectors of the institution, urban planning, public works, SUAP, local police and litigation, in violation of the rules on corruption prevention".
Biondi is also on trial for the construction of the parking lot on Via San Carlo, a work that according to the Naples DDA was built by an entrepreneur close to the Casalesi boss Michele Zagaria.
Also under investigation are former mayor Marino himself, accused of bid-rigging in relation to a contract in the waste sector, and former deputy mayor Emiliano Casale, investigated for vote-trading with an entrepreneur believed to be close to the Belforte clan of Marcianise. Investigators have also dealt with alleged Camorra infiltration in the awarding of social-welfare services, with investigations into a former municipal councilor and a cooperative that in 2023 received an anti-mafia ban from the prefecture of Salerno.
The prefect's report finally highlighted the conviction for political-mafia vote-trading inflicted in 2023 on the former deputy mayor of Caserta Pasquale Corvino, dating back to the center-right administration preceding Marino's. Corvino's sister had then been a candidate on the list supporting Marino in 2016, resulting in the most votes and obtaining an assessorship.
Article published on May 14, 2025 - 14:08 pm
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It is very worrying how the situation in Caserta has come to this point. Camorra infiltration is never good for a community. I hope the authorities act decisively to resolve this problem.