"We disarm": cell phones turned off like drug traffickers and euros counted in cars. All the details of the political trafficking ring in Castel Volturno.

Castel Volturno – A widespread, pervasive, and brazen system, where public property has been transformed into a "private entity" to be managed according to purely clientelist, corrupt, and intimidating logic. This is the devastating picture painted by the prosecutors of Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Giacomo Urbano and Anna Ida Capone, in the detailed request for precautionary measures that shook the Municipality of Castel Volturno like an earthquake, leading to the immediate resignation of Mayor Pasquale Marrandino.

The 174 pages of court documents reveal a picture of an administration bent on serving a small circle of politicians, business friends, and prominent voters. This wicked pact began during the campaign for the local elections of June 8 and 9, 2024 (and the subsequent runoff on June 24) and continued uninterrupted in the day-to-day management of contracts, extensions, and professional appointments.

The genesis: the "voting desk" at the Quattro Stagioni bar and coercion at the polls

It all began with a veritable conspiracy aimed at electoral corruption. The investigation—driven by complaints from former mayor Luigi Umberto Petrella and councilor Antonio Luise—uncovered a promotional network for vote-buying.

The nerve center of the operation was a bar in Ischitella. There, a veritable "counter" was set up where Michele Cantone and his accomplices systematically handed out 50- and 70-euro bills to a continuous line of voters. In exchange for the cash, voters were given a facsimile of the ballot paper with instructions on how to vote for the "Marrandino-Natale" list, even specifying the polling station to go to.

But the cash-only grabbing of preferences wasn't the only thing involved. Investigators depict surreal and intimidating scenarios:

The “pig” in exchange for votes: The accused Attilio Morrone (grandfather of candidate Silvana Morrone) received from Pasquale Marrandino an illegally bred pig without health documentation, with the promise of a job, with the sole purpose of diverting all his family's votes to the mayoral candidate.

Appliances and promises: Election campaigns began with offers of LED televisions, washing machines, and refrigerators, delivered through compliant businesses to sway undecided voters.

Street intimidation and electoral squadrism: At the polling station of the "San Rocco" elementary school, the wife of a convicted felon with ties to the Casalesi clan, along with two other convicted felons, flanked, stalked, and blocked voters at the polling station entrance, even physically threatening those who refused envelopes of money or forced them to stand alongside them.

Threats to the Evangelical CommunityThe brazen blackmail perpetrated against the evangelical pastor or the community's support for Marrandino, or the refusal to grant him access to the municipal park "Parco Oasi" managed by the church.

The "rotational" nature of contracts and the dossier of opponents

Once the tricolor sash had been secured, the "politics of favor" transformed into a well-tested institutional mechanism. By manipulating the municipal shortlists of technicians and professionals, the Marrandino administration ensured a rigid "rotational" system of direct contracts to reward those who had financed or supported the election campaign.

Wiretaps in the Mayor's office captured heated exchanges with those protesting the distribution of profits. A particularly significant example was the confrontation with City Council President Raffaela Baiano, who accused Marrandino of handling appointments in a completely arrogance and solitary manner. When Baiano protested ("What rules? Who decides who chooses?"), Marrandino responded bluntly: "Me! Only me! Send me home!", even hinting that he had already prepared a recall for dissidents.

Among the most striking events of the partition

The assignment to the photographer: A €5.000 contract for a "video shoot for social media use" approved by director Gennaro Campoli. The assignment was actually intended to repay and eliminate the personal debts that Marrandino and Councilor Andrea Maria Scalzone had incurred with the photographer for promotional videos shot during the election campaign.

The road contract to “Edil Rao”: Direct contracts for road maintenance and safety were awarded to Nino Rao's company worth over €66.000. Rao, according to the charges, had secured blocks of votes and disposed of waste materials from municipal contracts at the "Ecogranto" plant owned by the family of Deputy Mayor Giulio Natale.

Waste Service Bribes: The USB Box Under the Jeep's Seat

The darkest and most detailed chapter of the ordinance concerns the relationship between Pasquale Marrandino and the Urban Hygiene sector. The investigation demonstrates how, ever since he served as Councilor for Ecology (between 2020 and 2021), Marrandino had exploited his powers to benefit the company Teknoservice srl.

Investigators documented the illicit suggestion sent via regular email (to avoid traceability of certified email) to correct errors in the tender documentation and secure the €1,1 million contract for the company with a paltry 0,11% discount, in addition to the "rigged" appointment of the RUP Francesco Pirozzi. In exchange, Marrandino collected large bribes delivered in cash in shopping center parking lots or at trusted bars.

The system found its natural continuation in engineer Daniele De Caprio. Illegally appointed Contract Execution Director (DEC) for the €25,7 million waste management contract—he was prominently and "forced" into the municipal shortlist—De Caprio returned the favor by paying periodic bribes to the Mayor.

The hidden cameras of the Carabinieri of the Caserta Investigative Unit inside the Jeep Renegade used by Marrandino captured scenes straight out of a detective movie:

The meeting of March 8, 2025: At a bar in Mondragone, De Caprio climbs into the Mayor's Jeep and, without saying a word, pulls a white box (the kind used for computer components or USB cables, 25x5x2 cm) from his backpack. Marrandino grabs the box and hides it under his seat.

Counting the money for the daughter's nursery: Over the following days (March 10, 11, and 12, 2025), cameras captured Marrandino leaning under the seat, removing the white box, and withdrawing bundles of 20-euro bills, totaling over 580 euros. GPS tracking confirmed that, immediately after counting the money in the car, the Mayor went to a private preschool in Pescopagano to pay his daughter's registration and tuition in cash.

 Bug paranoia, "we disarm ourselves," and "self-destruct" chats

The awareness of being under the scrutiny of the judiciary and law enforcement had generated a real phobia of wiretapping among the suspects.

In the City Hall, when illicit business matters were being discussed, Marrandino and Deputy Mayor Giulio Natale would ask their interlocutors to leave the room in the corridors or into the courtyard. Before engaging in discussions inside the car, the participants would hand over their cell phones, leaving them on the dashboard or in the backseat.

During a private meeting aboard the car to finalize the civil service appointments, Giulio Natale used a slang expression that has become a symbol of the investigation: "We're disarming ourselves!", urging everyone to put down their phones before speaking. When Councilor Scalzone threatened to make compromising remarks, Marrandino silenced him by peremptorily raising his index finger to his nose.

Equal caution was exercised in digital communications. Engineer De Caprio and his wife Clelia Cicoria routinely used WhatsApp's "Self-Destruct" function (messages and images that self-destruct after the first view) to send each other photos of the wads of cash recently collected by businessmen in the Aversa area. In the chats transposed by analysts, the woman, frightened by the enormous amount of cash kept in her home or car, ironically commented on the photos of the money, exclaiming, "Eh, like drug lords!" and adding emojis of the scream of terror. A harbinger of what would soon sweep away the political leadership of the municipality.

The prosecutor's office has requested a precautionary prison order for Pasquale Marradino, while house arrest has been requested for Daniele De Caprio. De Caprio, an engineer appointed Director of Contract Execution (DEC) for the waste management service and technical inspector, is accused of corruption for handing over bundles of cash to Marrandino in exchange for contracts and assignments.

Fourteen other people are under investigation in the investigation, including Deputy Mayor Giulio Natale; Giovanni Zannini (a Campania Regional Councilor implicated in other investigations and subject to a precautionary measure), accused of promising contracts, company headquarters, and positions in exchange for votes in the runoff election; and Vincenzo Caterino, former Mayor of San Cipriano d'Aversa and President of GISEC.