PADUA -- Luca Claudio, the mayor re-elected for the town of Abano Terme as recently as Sunday, has been arrested for alleged corruption.  The accusations are of corruption, illegal abuse of office for personal gain, and illicit induction.

 The investigation, which led to Claudio’s arrest at dawn on Thursday, has built on the inquiry opened last year by the financial police for the alleged bribes of the maintenance of the town’s green spaces.  It reportedly also turned up a series of ‘bribes’ on a wider scale, concerning the construction of a school building, as well as maintenance, and almost all sectors of public administration.

 In total five people were arrested at the crack of dawn by the financial guard, after an arrest warrant was put out by the preliminary investigation judge [GIP], with the accusation of an alleged series of bribes.  Besides from the new mayor, there is a public administrator, as well as three businessmen of various companies, involved for a network of abuse of position, along with undue inducement to give or promise value and benefit, corruption, and money-laundering.

 There are reportedly another 18 suspects under investigation in the same case, whilst police are running 22 house and locality searches.

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