Italian financial police have arrested three people in the city of Catanzaro in the country's south in connection with a fraudulent scheme perpetrated during maintenance of a road bridge
ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd November, 2021) Italian financial police have arrested three people in the city of Catanzaro in the country's south in connection with a fraudulent scheme perpetrated during maintenance of a road bridge.
A total of six people incriminated in the graft have been charged with state contract fraud, organizing a criminal group, illegal movement of valuables and money laundering.
The investigation conducted by the local anti-mafia office and the financial police reportedly turned up "strong evidence" of crimes committed by two entrepreneurs working in the construction and road works sector. One of their fictitious companies allegedly won a contract for repairs of concrete structures of a bridge that connects the center of Catanzaro with a highway, as well as for renovations of supporting walls of the road.
The bridge was designed by engineer Riccardo Morandi, who was also responsible for the construction of a highway bridge in Genoa, which collapsed in 2018 due to poor maintenance, killing 43 people.
The prosecutor's office has placed an arrest warrant on the section of the road in Catanzaro for further analysis, though it still allows traffic.
The maintenance of the bridge was carried out using cheaper materials of poor quality, but the works were conducted on non-essential parts that now affect the general stability of the structure, financial police general Dario Solombrino told Sputnik.
"Obviously, after Genoa, bridges and viaducts are under scrutiny, but this does not mean that the bridge at Catanzaro could have collapsed," the officer said.
He stressed that the viaduct is of vital importance to the city, connecting a part of it with the road network. The fact that the bridge was also designed by Morandi was "pure coincidence," Solombrino noted.
