Positano investigation: €4 million in contracts and vote-trading under scrutiny

POSITANO – A rude awakening for the pearl of the Amalfi Coast. The dawn light hadn't yet fully illuminated the cliffs when a massive deployment of police entered the town hall.

Carabinieri officers from the Salerno Provincial Command's Investigative Unit, supported by officers from local stations, sealed off the entrances and locked themselves inside the municipal offices, launching a monumental search and seizure of documents. This unprecedented operation for the coastal town immediately highlighted the gravity of the ongoing judicial storm.

The raid, coordinated by the Salerno Public Prosecutor's Office, aims to dismantle an alleged "business cartel" that for years monopolized local public procurement. The investigative hypothesis is clear: a large portion of municipal contracts were systematically awarded to the same companies, systematically violating the mandatory rotation principle.

Excellent names and the favor system

The list of suspects shakes the leadership of the previous administration. The military has served notices of investigation on former mayor Giuseppe Guida, former deputy mayor Michele De Lucia, and former councilor Raffaele Guarracino, alleging complicity in corruption for an act contrary to official duties.

Along with the three politicians, eight local businessmen are also under investigation: Antonino Palumbo, Ivan Palumbo, Mario Mastro, Angelo Avitabile, Manuela Porrazzo, Massimo Milano, Raffaele Di Leva, and Giuseppe Aversa.

The investigation stems from a detailed complaint filed on August 21, 2025, by the opposition councilors currently in power. In less than a year, investigators have gathered what they call "an appreciable body of evidence" surrounding a veritable system of stable influence. According to the prosecution, the Municipality's public functions were literally subjugated to the private interests of a small group of entrepreneurs linked by intricate corporate, personal, and professional ties.

The epicenter in the mayor's office and the crux of the elections

The beating heart of the criminal network hypothesized by investigators revolves around a galaxy of nine companies, including limited liability companies and cooperatives, capable of siphoning off public funds worth more than €4 million. However, the true logistical "epicenter" of the activities under investigation has been identified as the "Guida & Vitolo" professional firm, linked to the former mayor's private practice (the partner, at this time, is not implicated).

In fact, some of the private companies involved in the investigation also had their registered offices in the same building as the firm: a coincidence that, for the Prosecutor's Office, strengthens the hypothesis of "at least coordinated and not merely occasional management of corporate, accounting, and tax relationships."

That's not all. The investigation is dangerously expanding beyond City Hall, shedding light on the latest municipal elections. Testimonies and investigations have documented the strong electoral commitment of some of the investigated businessmen in support of the list led by De Lucia, which also included Guida and Guarracino.

What might have seemed like a political connection turned out, according to the magistrates, to be a real corrupt agreement: targeted electoral support, aimed not at ideological proximity, but "at maintaining existing contracts and obtaining new ones."

Hunting for matches in phones

As the Carabinieri left City Hall with folders of documents, the judicial system moved quickly to the next step. Yesterday afternoon, the Salerno Prosecutor's Office appointed a computer expert to perform forensic copies of all the electronic devices—smartphones, tablets, and computers—seized from the eleven suspects.

The chats, messages, and emails, analyzed along with the paper documentation, will now have to confirm or deny the accusatory theory.