Over 800 million irregular masks: the former commissioner Arcuri at risk of trial
The Rome Public Prosecutor's Office closed the investigation: the magistrates dropped the charges of corruption and embezzlement for the manager. The one for abuse of office remains standing
Millions of irregular and dangerous masks for health. Protective devices purchased by China during the first dramatic wave of the pandemic. A "deal" worth 1.25 billion euros that could cost the former extraordinary commissioner for the Covid emergency, Domenico Arcuri, a trial.
The Public Prosecutor of Rome has, in fact, closed the investigation of the investigation into the purchase of over 800 million masks, carried out with the intermediation of some Italian companies. In addition to the then number one in the commissioner structure, another 11 people risk being indicted. Among them the entrepreneur Mario Benotti, who is accused of the trafficking of illicit influences, and Antonio Fabbrocini, sole head of the procedure for the commissioner accused of fraud in public supplies, forgery and abuse of office. The magistrates of piazzale Clodio have dropped charges of corruption and embezzlement for Arcuri.
On this point, the manager expresses "satisfaction" and, commenting on the notification of the closure of the investigation, affirms that he will now be able to "finally exercise the right to defense in relation to the residual hypothesis of abuse of office".
The personal protective equipment had been seized by the Guardia di Finanza last October. In the provision, the magistrates wrote that "the physical / chemical examination of masks and devices, carried out both by the Customs Agency of Rome" and by "consultants appointed" by the prosecutors has shown that "most of them do not meet the required protective efficacy requirements by the Uni En standards "and" even some supplies have been judged dangerous to health ".
The devices, both surgical masks and Ffp2 and Ffp3 or Kn95, did not pass the "paraffin aerosol" and "sodium chloride aerosol" tests. Against Arcuri, the magistrates of piazzale Clodio contest that they have in "quality of public official - as stated in the charge - and in competition with Fabbrocini and in union and competition by mutual agreement with the entrepreneur Vincenzo Tommasi" intentionally "constituted" in the hands of Tommasi, thereby abusing their office, an illegal position of patrimonial advantage ".
A modus operandi that guaranteed the entrepreneur "the right to have a commercial relationship with the public administration without assuming any responsibility for the result of his action and the validity of the supplies he procured; the almost total exclusivity in the de facto intermediation of the supplies of surgical masks and dpi imported from China ".
As for the position of Benotti, accused with other seven of the trafficking of influences, he would have exploited the "personal and occult relationships with Arcuri, obtaining that the latter assured the partners" of the same entrepreneur "an exclusivity in fact in the intermediation of the supply of surgical masks and personal protective equipment ".
Regarding Fabbrocini, with regard to the accusation of forgery, it is contested that he acted "in the capacity of rup" (sole responsible for the procedure) by inducing "the CTS to falsely certify the compliance of imported health devices with the Uni En standards".
(Unioneonline / vl)
