Justice

Delmastro files in Antimafia. Schlein: 'Meloni to explain before referendum'

Scandal just days away from the face, opposition calls for resignation

by Rome Editorial Staff

19 March 2026

ANDREA DELMASTRO DELLE VEDOVE SOTTOSEGRETARIO GIUSTIZIA DELMASTRO CONDANNATO A 8 MESI - FOTO ARCHIVIO 7146

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

The story: from the photo with the camorrist to the company with his daughter
The Cry of Opposition
Restaurant in the hands of the Senese clan

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

A few days before the vote for the Constitutional Referendum on Justice, there is the addition of the shadow of the Delmastro case, the Fratelli d'Italia undersecretary for Justice accused of being a business partner of the 18-year-old daughter of a Camorra convict.

Dem secretary Elly Schlein calls on Council President Giorgia Meloni to take a position before Sunday's vote, while 5-Star Movement President Giuseppe Conte calls for government members involved in legal proceedings to resign.

"For me, the Mafia is a pile of shit," Delmastro defends himself, borrowing the famous quote by Peppino Impastato and denying any accusation levelled against him.

The story: from the photo with the camorrista to the partnership with his daughter

A storm is brewing over the judicial affair involving Andrea Delmastro Delle Vedove, number two at the Ministry of Justice.

The spotlight is on a shot from 2023 in which the Fratelli d'Italia exponent is inside a restaurant, in which he smilingly embraces - while giving the thumbs-up - restaurateur Mauro Caroccia.

Nothing strange except that the man was definitively sentenced this year to four years in prison with mafia aggravation and is serving his sentence in Viterbo prison.

But the accusation is that the links between the latter and the exponent of Fratelli d'Italia continued over the years because of Miriam Caroccia, the camorrist's daughter.

On the day she blew out eighteen candles, she started a company engaged in the catering business by choosing Delmastro as business partners along with four other colleagues from the premier's party.

It was in this context that the Srl Le 5 Forchette was founded in front of a notary in Biella, which had its local unit in Via Tuscolana, at number 452, where the Bisteccheria d'Italia restaurant was opened. On the osteria's sign was the inscription 'Papà non vole'.

The cry of the opposition

It is PD leader Elly Schlein who takes the floor, demanding that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni be allowed to comment on the affair before the polls. The accusation is that the leader of Palazzo Chigi knew about the affair for at least a month.

Andrea Delmastro 'absolutely must resign', was the comment of M5s president Giuseppe Conte, arriving at the State University for an initiative with students in favour of the No vote in the referendum on justice. The leader of the Pentastellati also announced that he will present a request to revoke his appointment as undersecretary in these hours.

Adding further question marks on the issue is Angelo Bonelli of the Alliance of Greens and Left, who in addition to describing the situation as 'unprecedentedly serious', cites another element that does not add up: 'Delmastro did not inform the Chamber, as the law requires, that he owned shares in a company. Every MP is obliged to do so. Why did he not do so?".

The restaurant in the hands of the Senese clan

It is likely that the issue, once the polls have closed, will move to the Anti-Mafia Commission. The desire would be to clarify the issue without any intention of backing down.

Files on the investigation into the Senese clan have been in the Anti-Mafia files for some time. A maxi-investigation carried out by the prosecutors of the Rome DDA and brought to a conclusion with the Supreme Court's pronouncement last February.