Calabria: 40 Court of Auditors convictions for management of reception centres

(ANSA) – CATANZARO, 11 OCTOBER – The Jurisdictional Section for Calabria, based in Catanzaro, of the Court of Auditors has ordered compensation for tax damages in favor of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, for a total of 4.2 million euro, 40 people, including natural and legal persons, former administrators of Calabrian local authorities and of cooperative companies and associations based in the provinces of Cosenza, Catanzaro, Crotone and Reggio, for alleged irregularities in the assignments for the management of reception centers in Calabria , in the period between April 2011 and December 2012. From the investigations, coordinated by the Attorney General of the Court of Auditors of Catanzaro, Romeo Ermenegildo Palma, directed by the deputy prosecutor, Giovanni Di Pietro and conducted by the Compagnia di Paola and the Amantea Tenenza of the Guardia di finance, “serious irregularities had emerged – it is said in a press note – which led to an unjustified enrichment of the beneficiaries of public resources. In particular, the ‘implementing entity’, pro-tempore manager of the Civil Protection Sector of the Calabria Region, and delegate for emergency management, maintained a conduct maliciously designed to favor the entrusted entities, entrusting the management service of the emergency centers welcome to cooperative companies and consortia established after the submission of offers; granted assignments to structures with no experience in the sector, even if required by the regulatory rules at the time of signing the agreement and which did not yet even have the availability of properties in which to allocate the migrants; carried out the payment of fees that were clearly overestimated compared to the formal accommodation resulting from the investigations carried out, recognizing the entrusted parties with compensation for places agreed upon but not occupied; favored some structures, through agreements entered into with the foster companies, agreeing on the possibility of recognizing them, without any motivation to support the choice, the maximum daily compensation for each individual migrant and, finally, granting assignments to local authorities without having presented any offer, receiving compensation without issuing invoices or equivalent documents”. “The ruling of the Jurisdictional Section of the Court of Auditors – it is further stated in the press release issued by the Financial Police – incorporates, confirming it almost entirely in the judgement, the request made by the Public Prosecutor’s Office regional Court of Auditors of Catanzaro, formulated on the basis of the reconstruction carried out by the Cosenza yellow flames of the malicious conduct and damage to the state budget”. (ANSA).