They took bribes for cemetery contracts: scandal in the Municipality of Taranto, eight arrests. Among those under investigation are some public employees
Corruption, illegal maneuvers around contracts for services at the Taranto Cemetery, requests for money from the families of the deceased. This morning at Taranto the Police carried out an order from the investigating judge: seven house arrest and one in prison. The investigation, conducted by the Taranto Flying Squad under the direction of the Prosecutor's Office, developed from April 2021 following a fire, which occurred near the main entrance of the San Brunone cemetery in Taranto. Two vehicles belonging to a company which at the time of the events managed cemetery services on behalf of the Municipality of Taranto caught fire.
The affair involved some Municipality employees and other people from a social cooperative company Sociale, all of whom were deemed responsible of the crimes of disrupting the freedom of auctions, corruption for an act contrary to official duties and corruption of a person in charge of a public service also towards the corruptors.
READ ALSO: Soumahoro, the €9,000 tax return clashes with his mega villa
From the investigations, it emerged that the suspects colluded and carried out multiple criminal conducts which allowed the social cooperative to illicitly win the management of cemetery services for a number of years, with an amount of tender of approximately 7 million euros. In particular, it emerged that some municipal employees they would have modified the scores attributed to the technical offers and therefore carried out actions to irregularly favor the social cooperative to the detriment of the others that had participated in the tender. This in exchange for donations of money. A criminal association made up of some undertakers on duty at the Taranto cemetery, employees of the same company, has also come to light. These would have carried out numerous episodes of aggravated extortion, because the act was committed by several people gathered together, as well as extortion to the detriment of users of the Taranto cemetery in the context of cemetery services and operations.
For this purpose, they also allegedly used the “bad reputation” of a well-known exponent of a Taranto criminal group who died after the conclusion of the investigations. It emerged that the group of undertakers managed to obtain sums ranging from 100 to 250 euros from the families of deceased people, directly or through the intermediation of funeral agencies or cemetery employees, for each individual burial or exhumation procedure.
“A particular aspect that emerges from the investigation – comment police sources – is the hateful “criminal cross-section” in which, especially in situations of necessity, it was probably taken advantage of the feelings of affection and pain in which people are to be there when a family member passes away.”
#Taranto #corruption #kickbacks #cemetery #contracts #arrests