The "Sorrento system", the former mayor and the "psychic" spoke with "canary" cell phones

Here is the “Sorrento System”: travel, watches and luxury with bribe money, 16 arrests.
Former mayor Massimo Coppola and his alter ego, Lello the psychic, are at the center of an investigation into €35 million in rigged contracts. A businessman threatened suicide over extortion demands. An association used as a personal ATM.

This is the summary of the operation by the Guardia di Finanza, coordinated by the Torre Annunziata Prosecutor's Office, which yesterday uncovered a vast and widespread corruption scheme that allegedly allowed the former mayor of Sorrento, Massimo Coppola, and his accomplices to manage public contracts worth €35 million, including PNRR and ERDF funds.

A disturbing picture emerges from the investigations, presented by prosecutor Nunzio Fragliasso in a press conference with the regional and provincial leaders of the Guardia di Finanza.

The entrepreneur's desperation and the first arrests

The investigation was prompted by a complaint from an entrepreneur who was so exasperated by the constant demands for bribes that he even contemplated suicide before deciding to come clean and denounce the system.

It was thanks to this testimony that, last May, Coppola and his collaborator Francesco Di Maio were arrested in flagrante delicto, caught pocketing a bribe.

Yesterday, the Guardia di Finanza served a search warrant and made 16 arrests, including 11 in prison and five under house arrest. In addition to Coppola and Di Maio, the precautionary measures targeted a former councilor, municipal officials and managers, and several businessmen. The charges range from corruption to embezzlement to disrupting the freedom of auctions.

"Lello the Psychic": The Mayor's Alter Ego and the Hidden Treasure

The central figure of the investigation is Raffaele Guida, known as “Lello the psychic“. Described by the investigating judge in the order as Coppola's alter ego, Guida even presented himself to businessmen as deputy mayor, supported by a supposed "astral self-appointment."

He was the trusted person the mayor relied on to manage the illicit operations. Investigators believe he is the real "cashier" of the bribes: already in the first phase of the investigation, 167 thousand euros in cash were found on his billiard table, considered the "reserve" of the bribes.

According to the prosecution, Guida allegedly ran, with the full consent of the mayor, a parallel administrative machine driven by business interests. "I'm in politics" is one of the intercepted phrases attributed to the "psychic," who allegedly dictated the political and administrative policy in Sorrento, with the bitter comment from prosecutor Fragliasso that the management of a city "known throughout the world was partly entrusted to a psychic."

The "Canaries": encrypted cell phones and clan language

To communicate freely about contracts and bribes, Coppola and “Lello the psychic” used dedicated cell phones, called “canaries,” equipped with SIM cards registered to non-EU citizens who did not exist.

These devices, activated by the former mayor during a vote of confidence in Sorrento, allowed for casual conversations, while encrypted language was used on regular lines. This method, according to the investigating judge, "is typical of criminal networks" and, intercepted by the Guardia di Finanza using cutting-edge technology, provided "further evidence of corrupt agreements."

The mayor allegedly pocketed a share that could have reached up to 10% of the total value of the contract, bending his public office to personal gain and causing "damage to the proper functioning of the public administration."

"La Fenice": The ATM Association and Its Spending Sprees

The investigation revealed another piece of the "system": the "La Fenice" association, registered in the name of a front man for the mayor but in fact linked to him.

This association received public funds, allocated for "self-assigned" activities and then used for personal purposes: vacations (including one with the Guida family), luxury goods, valuable watches, and travel, for a total of 34 euros paid with the card linked to the association's account.

Among the contracts targeted: seats for the Tasso Theatre, street restyling, public lighting, maintenance, and event management.

A modus operandi that, as the prosecutor emphasized, could not have existed without the complicity of municipal officials "willing to assist the mayor in awarding contracts" and members of the contracting committees "subservient" to his solicitations.

The decision not to proceed with preliminary questioning was dictated by the need to avoid the "danger of tampering with evidence".

During the searches of the 26 suspects, nearly €50 in cash was seized. The investigation, which is currently being expanded, is now also focusing on the references, revealed by wiretaps, to bribes paid to secure jobs and contracts in other municipalities.

The suspects affected by the precautionary order

In prison:

• Massimo Coppola – former mayor of Sorrento

• Raffaele Guida – “Lello the Psychic,” the mayor's trustee

• Francesco Di Maio – Coppola's collaborator

• Vincenzo Sorrentino – former city councilor and accountant

• Filippo Di Martino – Head of the Municipal Technical Office

• Luigi Desiderio – municipal official

• Gennaro Esposito – technician

• Danilo Amitrano – representative of the “La Fenice” association

• Vincenzo Rescigno – designer

• Aniello Vanacore (1) – entrepreneur

• Aniello Vanacore (2) – entrepreneur

Under house arrest:

• Mario Parlato – entrepreneur

• Luigi Todisco – entrepreneur

• Raffaele Guarino – entrepreneur

• Alessandro Di Domenico – entrepreneur

• Michele Zambelli – entrepreneur

• Luigi Di Palo – entrepreneur

Total: 16 arrests su 26 investigated total.

During the searches, almost 50 thousand euros in cash.

The system, the prosecutor emphasized, could not have functioned without the complicity of technicians and municipal officials, always ready to comply with the mayor's wishes in awarding contracts. The contracting committees, he added, were "submissive" to his instructions.

Possible developments in other municipalities

During the wiretaps, conversations emerged that apparently referred to the payment of bribes for contracts in other municipalities. This is a strand of the investigation now being investigated further by investigators.