Caserta – Preliminary hearing judge Pasqualina Gaudiano has ordered the indictment of 22 suspects in the Santa Maria Capua Vetere prosecutor's office investigation into rigged contracts for the maintenance of public green spaces in the municipalities of Caserta and San Nicola la Strada.
The trial will begin on November 17 before Panel A of the Second Criminal Section of the Court of Santa Maria Capua Vetere. The investigation, coordinated by Prosecutor Pierpaolo Bruni and Deputy Prosecutor Ida Capone, with the support of the Carabinieri, has dismantled an alleged illicit system involving public officials and businessmen in a criminal conspiracy aimed at rigging tenders.
The charges include "criminal conspiracy," "falsification of public documents," and "disturbing the freedom of auctions." At the center of the investigation are brothers Franco and Giulio Biondi, respectively a former manager of the Municipality of Caserta (recently suspended for six months by the Ministry of the Interior) and a former manager, now retired, of the Municipality of San Nicola la Strada.
Among the defendants are entrepreneurs Raffaele Antonucci, Francesco Cerreto, Domenico Natale, Giuseppe Cerullo, and Gianni Andrea Migione, as well as municipal officials and employees such as Michele Amato (Caserta), Brigida Napoleone, Francesco Zoleo, Giovanni Mastroianni, councilor and former deputy mayor Antonio Megaro, and former councilor Gaetano Mastroianni (San Nicola la Strada).
According to the prosecution, the group orchestrated a “cartel” to control the procurement of public greenery, with rigged tenders that always favored the same colluding companies.
Businessmen had formed a cartel with the complicity of corrupt officials
Investigations revealed that only one company submitted competitive bids, while the others purposely submitted less advantageous offers, thus ensuring a rotation in the awarding of contracts, worth a total of approximately half a million euros between 2019 and September 2020. In exchange, public officials allegedly received favors, such as electoral support for former councilor Mastroianni or, in the case of Franco Biondi, the removal of any potential bugs by a company that won a contract for the detection of electromagnetic fields.
The investigation is part of a broader context of illegality that led, in April 2025, to the dissolution of the Municipality of Caserta due to Camorra infiltration, ordered by the Interior Ministry. The defendants, some of whom were already under house arrest last October and subsequently released, will now face trial to answer the serious charges brought by the Prosecutor's Office.
The article clearly explains the corruption that appears to be widespread. It's important that justice be done and those responsible be punished. I hope the process is transparent and fair for everyone.