Puglia, former councillor Alfonso Pisicchio and his brother arrested

Former Puglia Region councillor Alfonso Pisicchio, and his brother Enzo Pisicchio, have been placed under house arrest as part of an investigation by the Bari Public Prosecutor's Office. The alleged offences against the former regional councillor, who was arrested with five other people (1 in prison, 4 under house arrest, 2 are subject to a 12-month ban on exercising professional activities) are, among others, bribery for an act contrary to official duties, bribery for exercising a function, fraud, aggravated fraud for obtaining public funds, material falsity, and disturbance of the freedom of bidders.

The investigation coordinated by the Bari Public Prosecutor's Office concerns allegedly rigged tenders. Jailed is 58-year-old Cosimo Napoletano, from Monopoli. Under house arrest, in addition to the Pisicchio brothers, are 59-year-old Francesco Catanese from Bari and 58-year-old Giovanni Riefoli, originally from Barletta but resident in Bari. On the other hand, Vincenzo Iannuzzi and Grazia Palmitessa were banned from professional activity for one year. In the order signed by the gip of the Court of Bari, Ilaria Casu, it is explained that for the Pisicchio brothers 'the only measure proportional to the seriousness of the charges that is adequate to avoid the danger of reiteration of the crime is that of house arrest'. Specifically, the order clarifies that for Alfonsino Pisiscchio, the charges of corruption and disturbance of the freedom of tenders concern the period when he was a councillor of the Emiliano council, when he allegedly used 'his political influence and relations, through his brother Enzo, for a clientelistic management of his role, with favouritism to obtain returns in terms of electoral consensus, through recruitment in favoured or advantaged companies of people who ensure the vote and who had also militated in his party'. Enzo Pisicchio, on the other hand, would have acted 'as executor of the directives' of his brother 'and as a screen to prevent Alfonsino's role and contribution from being traced'. Enzo Pisicchio would have had a 'key role in the commingling of the crimes ascribed to him' as 'an intermediary and fixer in the relations, at various levels, between public administration officials - municipal and regional - and entrepreneurs not only at local but also at national level'.

The gip highlights 'the seriousness of his conduct, the unscrupulousness shown in the commission of the offences aimed at satisfying an irrepressible appetite for utilities', explaining that by utilities are meant 'PCs, mobile phones, furniture for the house, the fake employment of his daughter, payment by Riefoli of his daughter's graduation party, large sums of cash'. "The events examined have shown the extensive ability of the two suspects to exploit the relationships built over time in the regional and municipal spheres in order to pilot administrative action and gain personal advantage," the gip continues.