Top-level Italian officials have been placed under investigation by Italy's Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) as part of an inquiry coordinated by the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) into alleged irregularities concerning migrant reception.
The director of the central service for immigration and asylum at the Italian interior ministry, Prefect Gennaro Capo, has been placed under investigation by the Financial Police as part of an inquiry coordinated by the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) into alleged irregularities concerning public tenders by the Rieti prefect's office for migrant reception.
In total, six people have been placed under investigation on charges of interference in a tender. The deputy prefect and an entrepreneur are also under investigation.
The charges against Capo are reportedly in connection with incidents that occurred when he was prefect of Rieti, between 2021 and November 2023.
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Allegations of monthly payments
The investigation has also found that the current deputy associate prefect of Rieti, Luisa Cortesi, and an entrepreneur, Agostina Mollichella, allegedly -- according to statements from the Financial Police and prosecutor's office -- received monthly compensation of between 8,000 and 10,000 euros.
The inquiry also found that the prefect's office in Rieti had entrusted two cooperatives -- Tesa first and then Montasola -- that were both under the same owner, with funds of about 1.6 million euros for migrant reception, despite their not meeting requirements, including a minimum of three years in the same sector and the presentation of their balance sheets.
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Alleged embezzlement of EU funds
The investigation by the Financial Police also reconstructed how EU funds were allegedly used, which ended up in the coffers of the cooperatives the inquiry focused on: part of the 1.6 million euros, investigators found, had been embezzled for ends different from the activities for which the cooperatives had been employed, including the purchase of personal assets and paid holidays.
The Financial Police carried out a series of searches and acquisitions of documents and notified several individuals of the requirement to appear before the public prosecutors of the European prosecutor's office in Rome.
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