Massages, luxury hotels, and consultations without receipts: €190 hole in Sorrento, two on trial

Sorrento – Hotel beauty treatments, beach loungers, undocumented press reviews, "ghost" consultations, and even hundreds of copies of books purchased without any clear purpose. It all appeared in the expense folders approved by the Municipality of Sorrento for cultural promotion over the past three years.

This public-sector patronage, however, has come under the scrutiny of accounting magistrates: the Regional Prosecutor's Office of the Court of Auditors for Campania has sued a former director of the coastal authority's Culture sector and an administrative investigator, alleging financial damages exceeding €190 (€190.106,23 to be precise).

The first hearing has been set for March 23, 2027, before the Campania Jurisdictional Section.

Unreported expenses and the event never took off

According to the reconstruction by Deputy Prosecutors Licia Centro and Ferruccio Capalbo, the disbursement of public funds to Vis Factor srl occurred without adequate investigation and without the necessary supporting documents. The investigation centers on the 2023 and 2024 editions of the "Sorrento d'autore" exhibition and the 2023 conference titled "The Mediterranean, the Bridge of Safe and Sustainable Energy."

Precisely for this last event, which cost the municipal coffers approximately 45 thousand euros, the prosecution claims that there was no publicity and that the event was never actually held as envisaged in the original proposal.

The "anomaly" effect: free in Capri, hundreds of thousands of euros in Sorrento

The investigations were triggered in January 2025 by an inspection report issued by the Support Structure for the Anti-Corruption Officer of the Municipality of Sorrento, prompted by a council question. The internal body noted a "disproportionate difference" between the amounts paid by Sorrento and those paid by the same company to other local authorities.

Subsequent investigations conducted by the Guardia di Finanza confirmed the anomalous disparities: while for similar initiatives carried out in other municipalities—such as "Capri d'autore" in 2024 or "Ponza d'autore" in 2025—the company operated free of charge or with reimbursements limited to €10, in Sorrento the sums disbursed totaled more than €200, without any predetermined selection or award criteria being established.

From Massages to Books: A Map of Suspicious Refunds

The details revealed by the accounting checks paint a picture of unaccounted-for and disorganized spending. Authorized reimbursements include generic items such as "consulting" and "organizational expenses" that have not been reported, as well as press reviews lacking both the final report and the assignment letter to the journalist.

Some disputed invoices are particularly emblematic:

Stays and wellness: A hotel bill of 768,50 euros included body massage services, a hairdresser, a sun lounger on the beach, a pool bar, and drinks from the minibar for largely unidentified guests;

Editorial Purchases: The purchase of 250 copies of the book “Flames from the Past” for over €3.330, made without specifying the destination of the material or its relevance to the event program;

Related companies: A €61 invoice for general consulting services paid to Spin Factor srl, a company that shared its registered office and legal representation with Vis Factor.

The decision now passes to the judges of the Court of Auditors, who will be called upon to establish in 2027 whether there has been actual mismanagement in the administration of municipal resources.