The migrant pre-removal centre (CPR) in Milan's Via Corelli is now run by a court-appointed administrator, the local accountant Giovanni Falconeri.

The decision came after preliminary investigations judge (GIP) Livio Cristofano ruled in favor of the request presented by prosecutors Paolo Storari and Giovanna Cavalleri, confirming the emergency preventive seizure on December 13.

An official investigation into the facility resulted in allegation of fraud in public procurement and bid rigging. Investigators further specified that migrants at the facility had been kept in "inhumane" conditions.

The judge's ruling was based on a series of witness reports, photos and videos showing the "infernal" situation at the facility, which according to the evidence was "riddled with worms," has dirty beds and bathrooms and served food infested with parasites.

The facility in question is a branch of the Salerno-based company Martinina Srl.

A major fraud scandal

In a separate measure, the judge also banned Martinina Srl from taking contracts from public administrations for a year -- at the request of prosecutors that had investigated the case alongside the Milan finance police branch.

This comes after the inspection of the CPR team carried out earlier in December, which revealed that that the prefecture in Milan had already renewed the contract with the company for another year only weeks before -- a public tender worth some 4.4 million euros in 2022.

Martinina Srl was also accused of failing to properly deliver the services it had been contracted for, with the judge highlighting that the awarding of the contract in the first place had been based on a "sequel of protocols and conventions, which were surprisingly false" and were "never verified and controlled."

The GIP stressed that the level of management services delivered at the facility were "embarrassing," adding that the company had pocketed "almost the entirety" of the sum paid by the State.