Batman Shredded Invoices in Mincer
Côte d’Azur hideaway. Public money spent at Hermès, Monblanc, Euronics and Unieuro stores
Batman Shredded Invoices in Mincer
Côte d’Azur hideaway. Public money spent at Hermès, Monblanc, Euronics and Unieuro stores
ROME – Franco Fiorito was about to purchase a villa on the Côte d’Azur. The highly desirable residence at Menton was to join the list of eleven homes at Rome, Anagni, the Circeo peninsula and Tenerife – plus two flats leased from charities – that the former People of Freedom (PDL) Lazio regional authority group leader already owns. This property transaction, which was under way but denied by Mr Fiorito during questioning on 19 September, was one of the reasons why the magistrate ordered his arrest. The suspicion is that he might flee to France, which he could do “on the large vessel moored in the port of San Felice Circeo”. Yachts, luxury cars, lavish dinners, holidays at exclusive Sardinian resorts, a Jeep Wrangler purchased in haste for last February’s snow and even a €1,000 boiler for his Circeo mansion were all part of Franco Fiorito’s publicly funded lifestyle. And when he ended up under investigation, he tried various ploys to cover his tracks. While financial police officers waited outside to search his home, he shredded the most compromising invoices in a mincer. Experts from the currency unit led by financial police General Giuseppe Bottillo laid bare the web of theft and unlawful actions woven by “Er Batman”, as Mr Fiorito is known, but which could soon enmesh other party colleagues from the Lazio regional council. In just two years, the “system” allowed more than €6 million to pass through Mr Fiorito’s hands, and enabled him to appropriate €1.357 million, according to prosecutors.
Six witnesses against
Checks of the accounts reveal that Mr Fiorito paid himself councillors’ allowances three times every month. During questioning, assistant public prosecutor Alberto Caperna and deputy prosecutor Alberto Pioletti quizzed him about this procedure. Mr Fiorito replied candidly: “The reason for the bank transfers I ordered from the party group account to my accounts lie in the decision by the group to assign to me a double allowance, in addition to the allowance I already received. I would point out that I assigned myself a monthly allowance of €4,190 for my position as councillor and €8,380 (double) for my positions as committee chair and group leader. The ‘triple allowance’ was not approved by the council group. It has always been standard practice in the PDL group and in the other groups”. This assertion is denied by six witnesses, the most important of whom is Mario Abbruzzese, chair of the municipal council, but it is also refuted by the heads of secretariat of the Christian Democrat UDC group and the Lista Polverini, as well as two officers.
Checks of the accounts reveal that Mr Fiorito paid himself councillors’ allowances three times every month. During questioning, assistant public prosecutor Alberto Caperna and deputy prosecutor Alberto Pioletti quizzed him about this procedure. Mr Fiorito replied candidly: “The reason for the bank transfers I ordered from the party group account to my accounts lie in the decision by the group to assign to me a double allowance, in addition to the allowance I already received. I would point out that I assigned myself a monthly allowance of €4,190 for my position as councillor and €8,380 (double) for my positions as committee chair and group leader. The ‘triple allowance’ was not approved by the council group. It has always been standard practice in the PDL group and in the other groups”. This assertion is denied by six witnesses, the most important of whom is Mario Abbruzzese, chair of the municipal council, but it is also refuted by the heads of secretariat of the Christian Democrat UDC group and the Lista Polverini, as well as two officers.
Ceramics and the Montblanc
But Mr Fiorito has to answer for more than just double or triple allowances. The real problem is the uncontrolled spending exposed by financial police experts. As magistrate Stefano Aprile points out, the expenses “have no connection with the activities of the PDL group”. The list of credit card payments reveals €1,331 spent at a Unieuro store, €263.87 at an Auchan supermarket, €500 for a Montblanc pen and €1,010 paid to Hermès. When asked by public prosecutors to justify the expenses, Mr Fiorito replied: “I can only tell you about the expenses incurred at Ceramiche Appia Nuova and Sonnino Tessuti, which appear to refer to the purchase of, in the first case, bathroom accessories for the party premises at Anagni and Frosinone and, in the second, to curtain material for the same premises”. The magistrate notes: “It can be ruled out that the local branch of a political party falls within the scope of the council group’s institutional aims and neither is it appropriate to linger over the examination of purchases at well-known boutiques in central Rome, unless one wishes to assert that clothing and designer pens fall within the ambit of the assembly group’s function”.
But Mr Fiorito has to answer for more than just double or triple allowances. The real problem is the uncontrolled spending exposed by financial police experts. As magistrate Stefano Aprile points out, the expenses “have no connection with the activities of the PDL group”. The list of credit card payments reveals €1,331 spent at a Unieuro store, €263.87 at an Auchan supermarket, €500 for a Montblanc pen and €1,010 paid to Hermès. When asked by public prosecutors to justify the expenses, Mr Fiorito replied: “I can only tell you about the expenses incurred at Ceramiche Appia Nuova and Sonnino Tessuti, which appear to refer to the purchase of, in the first case, bathroom accessories for the party premises at Anagni and Frosinone and, in the second, to curtain material for the same premises”. The magistrate notes: “It can be ruled out that the local branch of a political party falls within the scope of the council group’s institutional aims and neither is it appropriate to linger over the examination of purchases at well-known boutiques in central Rome, unless one wishes to assert that clothing and designer pens fall within the ambit of the assembly group’s function”.
Invoices in dressing room
One of the reasons that prompted the magistrate to issue an arrest warrant was tampering with the evidence. The allegation is supported by the service report of the financial police officers who on 14 September carried out the search at Mr Fiorito’s home. Mr Fiorito appeared not to be at the address where he is registered as resident. He was contacted by phone and assured officers he would be at the Parioli district flat where he habitually resides “in twenty minutes”. Officers called again when he did not turn up. He then said he was already in the flat, having entered through the adjacent building. Officers rushed in but could find little in the way of documents. Mr Fiorito himself handed over the folders of invoices five days later, when he was questioned. He told investigators: “Some of the folders were normally kept at the office of Boschi or Galassi [the secretaries - Ed.] and some in the dressing room behind my office. They weren’t found during the search because earlier I had taken them to another flat to stop them falling into the hands of my successor as group leader, Francesco Battistoni”.
One of the reasons that prompted the magistrate to issue an arrest warrant was tampering with the evidence. The allegation is supported by the service report of the financial police officers who on 14 September carried out the search at Mr Fiorito’s home. Mr Fiorito appeared not to be at the address where he is registered as resident. He was contacted by phone and assured officers he would be at the Parioli district flat where he habitually resides “in twenty minutes”. Officers called again when he did not turn up. He then said he was already in the flat, having entered through the adjacent building. Officers rushed in but could find little in the way of documents. Mr Fiorito himself handed over the folders of invoices five days later, when he was questioned. He told investigators: “Some of the folders were normally kept at the office of Boschi or Galassi [the secretaries - Ed.] and some in the dressing room behind my office. They weren’t found during the search because earlier I had taken them to another flat to stop them falling into the hands of my successor as group leader, Francesco Battistoni”.
In fact, as the officers’ report makes clear: “The following were found inside the mincer: part of an invoice made out to ‘PDL council group’ for items described as ‘silk ties’, ‘wool and silk scarves’ and ‘leather document case’, paid for in cash; part of an invoice from ‘Eugenio Shirtmaker’ for the amount of €4,000”. The following documents were found torn up in the kitchen waste bin: an email from Mireille Lucy Rejor, Mr Fiorito’s father’s partner, passed off as his secretary during questioning by Mr Fiorito, and an email from Roberto Battista to cabinet member Giuseppe Vit”.
3 ottobre 2012 | 18:21
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