There is said to have been a raid by the carabinieri in the Bolzano town hall, Italian media wrote. A total of 77 people were affected, according to the ANSA news agency. The suspected entrepreneurs are said to have bribed officials to obtain permits for real estate projects. The presumption of innocence applies.
The 77 suspects include eleven public administration officials, 20 managers and officials from local authorities and investment companies, members of the police, freelancers and a number of South Tyrolean entrepreneurs. In addition to Santi, Benko and Hager, the entrepreneur Paolo Signoretti and the former senator Vittorio Fravezzi are also involved, reported Südtirol Online (Stol.it). According to Italian media reports, nine people have been placed under house arrest so far.
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The mayor of Arco, Alessandro Betta, is also being investigated. He is said to be involved in the same real estate group. This is a real estate deal for a former hotel that is to be demolished and rebuilt on the banks of the Sarca River.
Benko was not arrested
Benko was questioned by the Tyrol State Criminal Police Office, but was not arrested. There are no special requirements for the investor. The arrest warrant will not be executed in Austria, said a spokesman for the Innsbruck public prosecutor’s office. A European arrest warrant does not have to be executed if it concerns an Austrian citizen against whom corresponding proceedings can also be carried out domestically, said public prosecutor’s office spokesman Hansjörg Mayr. The Innsbruck prosecution did not provide any further details – including the content of the interview.
Insiders assume that Benko’s legal representatives will ensure that he is registered in the Schengen information system. This means that every Austrian police department could see that the decision in Innsbruck was made to keep Benko at large for the time being. However, he should not leave the country because neighboring countries could very well execute the arrest warrant.
Benko’s defender appeased
“No European arrest warrant will be executed against Mr Benko. Mr. Benko will continue – as before – to cooperate fully with all national and international authorities and is confident that any allegations against him can be clarified as incorrect,” said Benko’s lawyer Norbert Wess in an initial statement to the APA.
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The research concerns projects from 2018 to 2022, it said in a press release commissioned by Hager. Hager’s broadcast states that the public prosecutor’s office is also conducting research in South Tyrol “in connection with various real estate projects” in Northern Italy. “The defense attorneys have been instructed to object to this measure. “Heinz Peter Hager has offered the investigators full cooperation and expresses great confidence in the judiciary,” the broadcast continued, according to RAI.
Hager is President of WaltherPark AG. He has been a partner of Benko for more than ten years. The business consultant has been involved in many real estate projects for years. He achieved a high level of fame through the Waltherpark project in Bolzano.
Over 100 searches in at least seven cities
The charges include, among other things, criminal conspiracy, bid rigging, unlawful party financing, fraud and unlawful receipt of funds to the detriment of the state. The defendants are also accused of various crimes against public administration, including bribery, disclosure of official secrets and omission to perform official acts, as well as violations of tax regulations, according to ANSA.
In total, there were over 100 searches, according to ANSA. Public institutions in Trento, Bolzano, Brescia, Milan, Pavia, Rome and Verona were audited, ANSA said. Searches are also said to have taken place abroad. The measure, adopted by the Trento District Court at the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, is said to be the result of a complex investigation carried out by the Italian police and the tax police. Apparently “abusive access” in 2019 to a computer system belonging to a city employee in Bolzano was the starting point for the investigation, La Repubblica reported.
Anti-Mafia Commission examines investigation files
The arrest warrant issued for Benko even concerns the Italian Parliament. The anti-mafia commission in the parliament in Rome has requested access to the investigation files from the public prosecutor in Trent. The Commission particularly wants to examine the real estate projects in which Benko and other Italian entrepreneurs are involved. It is suspected that the mafia could also have a hand in the matter, according to the commission in Rome.
Only last week it became known that the Economic and Corruption Public Prosecutor’s Office (WKStA) was investigating Benko on suspicion that he had misused CoV funding. This is about funding for the “Chalet N” on the Arlberg, which is dedicated as a hotel. The WKStA suspects that Benko’s property was primarily used privately and that the CoV aid paid for it should therefore not have flowed, according to the WKStA.
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