Bribes and ‘forced labor’ on the Naples-Bari high-speed line

Some of the managers of the firms working on the sites are alleged to have taken money and various benefits in return for guaranteeing subcontractors priority in contracts and in progress payments

There was corruption, taking such forms as a luxury watch, a mountain holiday, driving around in a Porsche, bribes hidden inside Christmas panettoni. And there was illegal labor exploitation, unlawful waste disposal, fraud regarding the concrete used. 

The investigation by the Naples prosecutor’s office, led by prosecutor Woodcock, looked into the works for the Naples-Bari high-speed rail line, a €5.8 billion project financed in part with NRRP funds, running along several branches and covering the sections crossing the provinces of Naples, Avellino and Benevento. This is a project the government is counting among its own successes. 

On Tuesday, September 29, the investigating judge Federica Girardi issued measures against 20 people, half of them to be held under house arrest. For the others the judge ordered residence requirements and residence bans, or suspensions from the exercise of a public service. A total of 49 people are under investigation, among them several figures from the Belforte clan. However, the investigating judge did not find that the aggravating circumstance of organized crime........

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