26 February 2019

Gianni Alemanno, a former mayor of Rome was sentenced to six years in prison and a lifetime ban on holding public office. Between 2012 and 2014 Gianni Alemanno is alleged to have received €223,500 in illicit funds. A mafia-style syndicate deposited the funds into the account of his Nuova Italia foundation. Funds came from three of the highest-profile Mafia Capitale defendants – businessman Salvatore Buzzi, notorious underworld figure Massimo Carminati, and the former administrator of AMA, the Roman waste collection company, Franco Panzironi. All the three are currently serving prison sentences.

As part of an investigation the Italian media dubbed “Mafia Capital,” prosecutors unearthed a system of corruption that involved several politicians.

 Alemanno, in return for the money which his foundation received from the syndicate, allowed cronies of the syndicate to be appointed to top posts in municipal agencies, such as the one that oversaw trash collection, and another that arranged catering for immigration refugees, Italian newspapers reported.

Prosecutors said he also directed city funds to a cooperative run by another figure in the network of corruption.

Sun Herald reported.