The Palermo Prosecutor’s Office is investigating a system of piloted procurement. Among those under investigation are also the former Sicilian governor Cuffaro and the parliamentarian Romano
The Palermo Prosecutor’s Office has requested house arrest for 18 people accused in various capacities of criminal association, bid rigging and corruption, as part of an investigation into rigged tenders. Among them are Salvatore Cuffaro, former president of the Sicilian Region and now leader of the New DC, and Saverio Romano, parliamentarian of Noi Moderati.
The ROS carabinieri notified the suspects of an invitation to appear before the investigating judge for preventive questioning, after which the judge will decide whether to accept the request for house arrest and, in Romano’s case, whether to request authorization to proceed to Parliament.
A search order was also ordered for several suspects, including Cuffaro. Public officials and Vito Raso, historic driver and trusted man of the former governor, are also involved in the investigation, coordinated by prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia.
Cuffaro had already been sentenced to seven years for aiding the mafia, a sentence that became definitive in 2011. He was released from prison in 2015 after almost five years of detention. Romano, however, was acquitted in 2012 of the charge of external complicity in a mafia association due to insufficient evidence.
