Naples - The Regional Prosecutor's Office of the Court of Auditors for Campania has initiated proceedings that could mark a turning point in the management of Neapolitan public companies.
Eight key figures in the Metropolitan City of Naples—including administrators, managers, and auditors—were today notified of claims for alleged financial losses of €23,5 million. Among them is former Naples mayor Luigi De Magistris. At the center of the investigation are the recapitalizations ordered to try to save CTP SpA, a local public transportation company that collapsed in 2022.
Twenty years of useless rescues
The investigation, delegated to the Economic and Financial Police Unit of the Naples Guardia di Finanza, uncovered a torrent of public money poured into the company's coffers: over €332 million from 2003 to 2020. These resources were intended to keep a fully public company afloat, a company that had been navigating increasingly troubled waters for years, accumulating loss after loss until its final collapse.
Accounting investigators sifted through documents and financial statements, revealing a disturbing picture. The company's business plans were continually revised and modified, never producing the desired results. Meanwhile, the quality of service was deteriorating: buses were running significantly fewer kilometers than contracted, thus failing to meet citizens' expectations and the commitments made to the controlling entity.
"Blind" recapitalizations
Particularly serious is the fact that some capital injections were approved without approved financial statements. These far-reaching financial decisions were made without complete and up-to-date information on the company's true situation. Internal and external supervisory bodies had repeatedly raised alarms about the company's ability to continue as a going concern, but their warnings appear to have gone unheeded while the overall economic situation inexorably deteriorated.
The Audit Office's analysis focused on the 2017 and 2019 recapitalizations, totaling €23,5 million, the only ones still actionable given the statute of limitations for tax action. According to the prosecution, these financial interventions violated the regulations on "financial assistance" to investee companies, which allow public entities to support their subsidiaries only when there are concrete and documented prospects of economic and financial recovery.
The proceedings are now in full swing
The eight recipients of the notices of evidence—issued pursuant to Article 67 of the Accounting Justice Code—are those who, during the period under review, held decision-making and supervisory roles over financial transactions. They will have 45 days to submit defense briefs, attach documents, access the case files, and request a personal hearing before the accounting magistrates.
The investigation will continue in accordance with the principles of impartiality, transparency, and adversarial proceedings, with the aim of determining any administrative liability in the management of significant public resources. The CTP case risks becoming emblematic of the management errors that can affect investee companies when controls are relaxed and political logic prevails over sound corporate governance criteria.
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