Corruption investigation in Benevento: Mastella denies the accusations: "I never took a single euro."

"If this allegation is true, I hope the judiciary will carefully investigate whether and to whom these alleged sums of money were transferred." This is the request of Benevento Mayor Clemente Mastella following statements attributed by the local press to former municipal manager Santamaria, as part of the corruption investigation.

According to Mastella's statement, the former executive allegedly declared having donated €160 to politics over the course of three years. The mayor firmly denies this claim, distancing himself from any suggestion of personal or political involvement.

"I can state with absolute certainty that this did not concern me, my family, or any other candidate from the Noi di Centro party," Mastella wrote. The mayor also contests the dissemination of what he calls "unverified" news and warns of the risk that the rumors will be transformed into definitive truths before further investigation.

"I find it absurd that such serious news is leaking to the press. Unverified, it is being exploited as absolute truth only to discredit honest, democratically elected institutional representatives," he states.

Mastella then asserts his political and institutional background and assures that he is innocent of any form of wrongdoing. "My fifty-year history demonstrates my integrity and my remorse for any form of illicit bribery: it has been so in the past and it is so now," he concludes.

At the heart of the matter now remain the statements attributed to the former manager and the investigations of the judiciary, called upon to verify the actual destination of any funds moved and any possible liability.