The Camorra and public contracts: 13 arrests in Naples and the surrounding area. Former Under-Secretary Casillo is in prison

Nine people have been remanded in custody and four placed under house arrest at dawn as part of an investigation by the Naples Anti-Mafia Directorate (Prosecutors Woodcock and Colonna Romano, Deputy Prosecutor Ferrigno) into alleged Camorra infiltration of public procurement and a corruption scheme involving businesspeople, administrators and public officials in Naples and the surrounding province. Among those arrested and remanded in custody is Tommaso Casillo, former undersecretary in the Prodi government and currently chairman of Soresa, the procurement agency for the Campania Region. Alongside him are the businessmen Mario and Marco Langella. Also in custody is Vincenzo Pagano, identified as the regent of the Veneruso clan, and four other alleged affiliates. The order issued by the Naples investigating magistrate was served by the Economic and Financial Police Unit of the Guardia di Finanza and the Investigative Unit of the Naples Port Authority and Coastguard. One company has been seized.

The offences with which they are charged, on various counts, are membership of a mafia-type organisation, aiding and abetting a mafia-type organisation, corruption, tampering with tender processes and contract award procedures, issuing invoices for non-existent transactions, and attempted aggravated extortion. A further 18 suspects have been summoned to appear for preliminary questioning.

The investigation centres on the links between members of the Veneruso clan and businesspeople in the environmental and healthcare sectors who, according to the investigators, are said to have benefited from the clan’s influence, contributing in return to its funding. The investigations concerned tenders and contracts awarded in the municipalities of Volla, Casoria, Somma Vesuviana and Cercola, as well as procedures within the regional healthcare sector and alleged corrupt agreements relating to the appointment of the coordinating commissioner of a service centre for cooperatives. The investigating judge also ordered the preventive seizure of a company based in Volla. Searches were also carried out at the premises of 22 suspects and one person not under investigation.

The investigation reveals an alliance between the Camorra and the business community aimed at influencing public procurement contracts , securing contracts and lining the clan’s coffers. The investigation concerns a fully-fledged network centred on Vincenzo Pagano, known as ‘’a Cuppulella’, believed to be the regent of the Veneruso clan, and the businessmen Mario and Marco Langella, who operate in the environmental and healthcare sectors. All three have been remanded in custody. According to the investigators’ reconstruction of events, endorsed by the investigating magistrate Emilio Minio, the relationship between the clan and the business group was based on an exchange of mutual benefits: the clan would have made its influence and capacity for intimidation available to facilitate the Langellas’ business dealings, whilst the businessmen would have provided financial resources to sustain and strengthen the criminal organisation.

Pagano, described by state witnesses as the clan’s ‘clean-cut’ member and ‘white-collar’ figure, is said to have been specifically responsible for the organisation’s business and construction interests, as well as its contracts, operating in Volla, Casalnuovo and the eastern part of Naples. Pre-trial detention has also been ordered for Mario Veneruso, Giovanni Annunziata, Salvatore Alfuso and Antonio De Luca, who are believed to be members of the Camorra organisation holding various roles in the management of criminal activities and local connections.