Venice’s mayor is under investigation in connection with a corruption scandal that has landed his top public works official in jail for an alleged kickback scheme in exchange for providing favours to property developers, Italian media reported on Tuesday.
Mayor Luigi Brugnaro and two of his aides are under investigation for allegedly agreeing to secure approval for a 348,000 square metre (3.7 million square feet) residential and commercial project for a Singaporean developer in exchange for 150 million euros ($164 million), news agency ANSA reported.
The project was to be realised on a plot of land that Brugnaro bought for five million euros at a public auction before he became mayor, and which was transferred to a blind trust when he took office. According to ANSA, the value of the plot, located on the mainland overlooking the Venice lagoon, increased after it was earmarked for a public project during his time as mayor.
Investigators are also looking into the city’s sale of the 16th-century palace to the same Singaporean developer for 10 million euros, allegedly 4 million euros below its value, the agency said.
Brugnaro, who has been called for sacking, denied culpability, saying he had “nothing to do” with the investigation. He said he could not have intervened to ensure the land was approved for construction because it had already been converted before he became mayor.
The broader investigation centres on the city’s top public works official, Renato Boraso, who is accused of ‘systematically commodifying his public functions and selling them to private interests’, the arrest warrant said. The investigating judge wrote that Boraso continued to conduct illegal activities even after he was notified that he was under investigation.
Boraso, whose home was searched on Tuesday, is under investigation on charges of corruption, money laundering and false billing.
A total of 18 people are under investigation, including property developers, businessmen and government officials. One property developer has been jailed pending investigation, while seven suspects are under house arrest.
