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'Ndrangheta, Solano's reports and direct assignments: the reasons for Stefanaconi's dissolution
The figure of the mayor and the connection with the D'Amicos. Also in the crosshairs are works entrusted to companies "connected with organized crime"
Published: 11/09/2024 – 16:39
VIBO VALENTIA A «direct connection with organized crime» and a relationship of «contiguity» between the mayor Salvatore Solano and his entrepreneur cousins ??Giuseppe and Antonio D'Amico , sentenced to 30 and 18 years respectively in the Petrolmafie trial against the 'ndrangheta of Vibo Valentia. It is a harsh report published by the Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi to justify the dissolution of the municipality of Stefanaconi for mafia infiltration, which took place last July 25. The former mayor, on whom much of the report is focused, was sentenced to one year (with a suspended sentence) in the same trial as his cousins, with the judges who recognized electoral corruption but excluded the aggravating circumstance of mafia, maintaining however in the sentence that Solano was « aware of the methods » with which D'Amico «procured votes» for his election as president of the province.
The Mayor's Connection with the D'Amico Brothers
According to the ministry, there are " concrete, unequivocal and relevant elements " that would demonstrate the connection between the administration and the 'ndrangheta. The judicial investigations would reveal the " explicit support " provided by Giuseppe D'Amico to the mayor Solano "on the occasion of the provincial elections of Vibo Valentia on 31 October 2018", as well as the "dealing with the same of issues relating to the criminal dynamics of the territory". Details emerged from the investigation of the DDA merged into the Petrolmafie trial, in which the entrepreneur Giuseppe D'Amico was intercepted while applying "illegal pressure" to city councilors and mayors to get his cousin to vote. " I just wanted to tell you that the candidate for the Province is my blood cousin " he states in one of the conversations intercepted by the investigators, while in another he would have referred to a photo sent by a mayor to demonstrate his vote. In their sentence, the judges, while excluding the mafia aggravation for Solano, noted " the emotional affinity between today's defendant and the organized crime environment ."
The figure of Solano
The same Prefect in his report had defined the mayor as "indisputably colluding with leading figures of the organized crime in the area", having played a leading role " aimed at favoring and facilitating " exponents linked to the 'ndrangheta. In addition to the criminal proceedings, according to several reports from the Police, Solano "has contraindicated acquaintances, so much so that it is reported that the administrator "is used to associating" with individuals linked to organized crime". Precisely by virtue of these "contraindications" and the small size of the municipality of Stefanaconi "it is undoubted - it is written - that the dominant figure of the mayor, also with respect to the structure, has determined an evident compromise of the smooth running and impartiality of the administration".
Direct assignments to companies "connected to organised crime"
The report then focuses on the activities carried out by the administration, in particular on the 82 direct assignments of works, services and public supplies to companies not present in the wishlist. A number that the prefect Grieco defines as "absolutely disproportionate", especially given that 19 of the companies presented "critical issues of various types", some "close, if not contiguous, to criminal environments ". The report cites the example of a company that had been entrusted with the maintenance of a building, but which was still waiting for the renewal of its registration on the wishlist. The company was shortly thereafter the recipient of an anti-mafia report, with consequent termination of the contract by the Municipality. A situation that was repeated for the works inside a school, for the disposal of bulky waste and for the resurfacing of the road. Elements that, in addition to the relationships with criminal environments that, according to the report, the mayor maintained, led to the dissolution of Stefanaconi. ( Ma.Ru. )
