Vigevano mayor arrested on corruption charges

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 28 - Carabinieri police in the northern city of Pavia on Thursday arrested the mayor of nearby Vigevano, 51-year-old Andrea Ceffa, on corruption charges.
    Ceffa, a member of the League party on his second mandate, was one of five public officials placed under house arrest, along with city councillor Roberta Giacometti, 43, a member of local conservative list Vigevano Riparte; an administrator of the ASM company controlled by the municipality, Veronica Passarella, 52; the administrative director of the company Alessandro Gabbi, 53; and the administrator of a company of the ASM group, Vigevano distribuzione gas, Matteo Ciceri, 49.
    The officials are charged with crimes against the public administration.
    The residences of two other people involved in the investigation, a former member of the European Parliament of the League party, Angelo Ciocca, 49, and a construction entrepreneur, Alberto Righini, 51,were searched by police as part of the operation on Thursday.
    The probe kicked off in November 2022, with an attempt to overthrow the municipal government, when a councillor was allegedly offered 15,000 euros to step down while the mayor, in order to have the support of another councillor, allegedly offered her a job as a consultant, investigative sources said.
    Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, the leader of the League party, said on Thursday that he knows Ceffa "as an honest and correct person at the exclusive service of the city".
    Salvini said he and the party stood by his side, "certain of his integrity" and "sure that he can prove his total innocence".
    (ANSA).