Milan finance police conducted search operations on Thursday at the offices of highway agency ANAS in Milan and Rome. The searches are part of a corruption and auction-rigging investigation led by Milan prosecutors.
The investigation, first reported by *Repubblica*, is overseen by prosecutors Tiziana Siciliano, Giovanni Polizzi, and Giovanna Cavalleri. It involves allegations of corruption, auction rigging, and the misuse of confidential information. Investigators suspect that public tenders for road construction were manipulated in exchange for bribes.
Sources revealed that at least two ANAS officials are under investigation for allegedly awarding contracts to specific companies in return for payments. These tenders involved road construction projects in Lombardy and north-eastern Italy. In addition to the ANAS offices in Milan and Rome, police searched three companies involved in the contracts, including the Turin-based Consorzio Stabile Sis.
According to initial information, the investigation involves nine suspects. Investigators estimate that bribes totalling €400,000 were paid to control road construction contracts worth approximately €400 million.
Salvini: someone will pay if they’ve done something wrong
It appears the documentary acquisitions and searches today not only concern Anas offices in Rome and Milan. Three construction companies, including the Consorzio Stabile Sis, which is based in Turin, and nine individuals are also under investigation.
“I hope that the investigators do their job well and quickly. And if there is someone who has made a mistake, let them pay”, commented the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Matteo Salvini.
“As far as I know, speaking with the CEO, there are some episodes that start from 2020. So I was doing something else in life. But regardless of that, if there is someone who has done something wrong, they must pay the consequences”.
