Six arrests for contests of contract manipulated to the port of Augusta



Six arrested people, two subject interdicts and seizure of sums for beyond a million euro and a society of planning. The outcome of an operation, called "Port is this Utility", that it has revealed an articulated system of alteration of the contests of contract announced publicly from the Harbour Authority of Augusta for the important realization infrastructural works in the Sicilian port financed with national and communitarian contributions.

The six custodiali decrees, emitted, upon request of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Syracuse, by the Jeep of the Court regarding four professionals and of two civil employees of the Harbour Authority of Augusta, in order to the corruption crime, are executed by the Customs corps of Syracuse. The provision recognizes the recurrence of various hypotheses of corruption and disturbing of auction in the within of the announced publicly contests of contract from the megarese Harbour Authority. "The piloted" contracts re-enter in those previewed in the "Card Great Projects - Hub port of Augusta". The works are financed in the within of programming 2007/2013 with deep PON and pile to about 100 million euros.

In the course of the today's presentation, near the Customs corps of Syracuse, of the outcome of the investigations, it is specified that the investigations, lead from the Economic Nucleus of Police - Financial institution under the direction and the coordination of the Procura, has first of all demonstrated that the announced publicly public contests from the Harbour Authority. "they are upsotten". The notices and the disciplinary ones of contest, in fact, did not come directly managed from the civil employees of the contracting out public body, but they were realized by titular professionals of a society of from Syracuse planning. Moreover in some circumstances, some commissioners of contest, after to have carried out the assignment of member of the aggiudicatrice commission, received - also with the screen of subject third party - charge of advising from the society that had adjudicated the contract.

In particular, through a meticulous reconstruction of the relations elapsing between the three titular professionals of the society of planning and the two civil employees of assigned the Harbour Authority of Augusta to the procedures of public evidence, it is assessed that the three private ones devised the notices and the disciplinary ones of contest, while the Only Responsibles of the Procedure of the Harbour Authority limited themselves, in fact, to prints and the publication in "Gazette".

Moreover it is emerged that the illicit conditioning of the procedures was foreordained to the piloted award of the contract to economic subjects with which the holders of the planning study had already concluded "pre-emptive agreements" finalized to transfer to the same important quotas profits, through appropriate "advisings". A tested system that has carried the same professionals to make sure advisings in order almost eight million euro, to embed from the winners of the millionaire contests of contract.

For the management of advising contracts the three professionals also had created some by right Maltese societies. These but have instrumentally turned out only used in order to embed the relative compensations. In fact, to the outcome of appropriate rogatory the international ones, the foreign societies have turned out lacking in effective operativity and which foreordained to the illicit system.

From the public side, the two civil employees of the Harbour Authority which charged to manage the contract contests which Only Responsibles of the Procedure have embedded about 500 thousand euros everyone for a reason or purpose of incentives for the relative activities of institute. As demonstrated by the investigations, these activities in reality are carried out by the three titular professionals of the planning study.

In the course of the presentation of the operation it is evidenced that such illicit mechanism has found wide confirmation in the executed actions of investigation. In the personal computers in use to the private ones in fact the announced publicly contests of contract are recovered documentation almost all, let alone various actions of the Harbour Authority. The technical investigation on the computers has then acclarato that the planning study had stipulated agreements with the enterprises that would have won the contracts still before the contest ban was published. Moreover the same ones inquired, felt on the point, have granted that the contest actions were managed by private hand.

Besides engineer of study of planning, that she had the role of "director" of the system of distribution of the contracts, to two siblings that are the other holders of the study and to the two civil employees of the harbour agency, moreover is arrested for corruption also another professional, in the role of contest commissioner. More the positions of the other subjects hit from the provision vanished: arranged the prohibition to exercise the activity of engineer for six months regarding an adviser of the Harbour Authority of support to the R.U.P and for 12 months regarding another a contest commissioner. To the inquired ones, to miscellaneous title, the crimes of corruption for contrary action to the duties compulsory united to the aggravating circumstances and the pains for the corrupting one are contested, upsotten freedom of the spells.

Also the seizure is arranged of the sum of about a million euro, also for equivalent, in order to the personal patrimonies of everyone, comprised eventual participation in society or agencies. The society of from Syracuse planning is seized also.