TORRE DEL GRECO - Ciro Borriello, mayor of Neapolitan commune Torre del Greco, has been arrested. He is accused of favouring Fratelli Balsamo SRL, an important waste disposal business which operates in several provinces in Campania. He has been arrested by the Guardia di Finanza along with five other people including the Fratelli Balsamo (Massimo and Antonio Balsamo) and other entrepreneurs from the area: Ciro Balsamo, Francesco Poeti and Virgilio Poeti. They have each received a custodial ordinance of preliminary detention in prison. 

 According to the charges, investigations have revealed “a unlawful trading in the public service performed by the mayor”, as reported by Italian news agency ANSA. Notes made by the prosecutor of Torre Annunziata show that the company was “made up of various accounting loopholes and illegal cash funds which were there to pay back the mayor for his criminal acts.” These sums of money were "handed over to the mayor during monthly meetings in secluded places without mobile coverage, moving from one car to another." Despite this, the illegal encounters were fully documented with video footage and phone tapping.

 Borriello, who turned 60 in February, reportedly did everything for Fratelli Calsamo: he even ousted another business, posing a danger to the public health without any foundation. His name was found in the Fratelli Balsamo's contract. According to Torre dell’Annunziata's prosecutor the illegality is made obvious by the fact that the mayor himself took away rival company Ego Eco’s contract, which was from 21 May 2012 - 20 January 2016. It was removed when they earned over 30 million euros, after performing “rigid night-time controls.” 

 The trained plastic surgeon had already been sentenced in January by the Naples Court of Appeal to one year of imprisonment for abuse of office, regarding the investigation into town-planning abuses in Torre del Greco. 

vk