Carabinieri police in the northern
city of Pavia on Thursday arrested the mayor of nearby
Vigevano, 51-year-old Andrea Ceffa, on corruption charges.
Ceffa, a member of the League party on his second mandate, was
one of five public officials placed under house arrest, along
with city councillor Roberta Giacometti, 43, a member of local
conservative list Vigevano Riparte; an administrator of the ASM
company controlled by the municipality, Veronica Passarella, 52;
the administrative director of the company Alessandro Gabbi, 53;
and the administrator of a company of the ASM group, Vigevano
distribuzione gas, Matteo Ciceri, 49.
The officials are charged with crimes against the public
administration.
The residences of two other people involved in the
investigation, a former member of the European Parliament of the
League party, Angelo Ciocca, 49, and a construction
entrepreneur, Alberto Righini, 51,were searched by police as
part of the operation on Thursday.
The probe kicked off in November 2022, with an attempt to
overthrow the municipal government, when a councillor was
allegedly offered 15,000 euros to step down while the mayor, in
order to have the support of another councillor, allegedly
offered her a job as a consultant, investigative sources said.
Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, the leader
of the League party, said on Thursday that he knows Ceffa "as an
honest and correct person at the exclusive service of the city".
Salvini said he and the party stood by his side, "certain of his
integrity" and "sure that he can prove his total innocence".
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