In exchange for oil, panettone, jewels, money and hiring relatives and lovers they made themselves available to the Nido D'Argento social cooperative and for its president they fixed tenders, accelerated reimbursements, turned a blind eye to inflated invoices. An investigation by the Palermo DDA which led to 12 precautionary measures tells the story of yet another corruption story, which also involves a former mayor and the head of the Agrigento traffic police.
Key figure Giuseppe Gaglio, creator of Borgo Parrini, a dilapidated neighborhood that became a tourist destination after the renovation, president of the board of directors of the Partinico coop that ended up in the storm. With the complicity of trusted employees such as Massimiliano Terzo, who when intercepted reiterated his pride in having "friends everywhere", Gaglio had devised a careful plan to win the greatest number of contracts and ensure punctual payments for the social services commissioned and set aside sums to be used as funding for the bribes.
The list of corrupt officials is long: such as the employee of the municipality of Balestrate Maria Rita Milazzo, now under investigation for corruption and bid rigging, who gave instructions to Nido D'Argento on how to set up the project bid, to win the management of the centers summers and in exchange he obtained the employment of his daughter. And Michela Sclafani, an official in the social policy management office of the Metropolitan City of Palermo, who speeded up the settlement of payments due to the coop and, for her help, received necklaces with emeralds worth 1,800 euros, branded perfumes, olive, sweets and panettone and hiring friends in the cooperative.
Then there were those, like Antonio Geraci, president of the awarding commission of a tender announced by the Municipality of Gela, who ensured that the Nido d'Argento won, collecting 2 thousand euros in return through the former mayor of Partinico Salvatore Lo Biundo . Or who, like the manager of the socio-health district of Agrigento, Gaetano Di Giovanni, now head of the traffic police, would have favored the entrusting of the social-assistance home care service for non-self-sufficient elderly people (for a total of 204,051 euros) to the company Medea controlled by Gaglio and social welfare services in the municipalities of Santa Elisabetta and Agrigento (for a total amount of 89,355) to the Nido D'Argento, in exchange for 7,500 euros in three tranches.
The interceptions, which give a clear picture of the relationships between the coop and the unfaithful officials, are decisive for the investigators. "Eh, but...I want to be cheeky, Down... for the little problems I have! Is it possible again at the end of the month? If possible...", asked an official from the Municipality of Marsala who had worked for the coop win a competition.