Corruption in Milan, Altitonante rejects the accusations: "Only an electoral contribution for Tatarella"

• Corruption, a vast operation in Northern Italy: arrests even among politicians and entrepreneurs

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The 25 thousand euros received by the regional councilor of Forza Italia, Fabio Altitonante, from the entrepreneurs Daniele D'Alfonso and Luigi Patimo would not be an illicit financing but a contribution for the election campaign of Forza Italia for the elections of 4 March 2018. they would be handed over to the party colleague Pietro Tatarella, city councilor and regional deputy coordinator of the party and candidate for the European elections in the North-West constituency. This is the thesis supported by Altitonante, under house arrest since last Tuesday, and by his lawyer, the lawyer Luigi Giuliano, before the investigating judge Roberta Mascarino.

"No bribe, Altitonante rejects the accusations"
"Altitonante answered the judge's questions - the lawyer explained - he gave his version of the facts rejecting allegations of corruption and illicit financing. The money given to him does not refer to the financing of his electoral campaign. There is no bribe of 20 thousand euros. There are sums paid for the electoral campaign that do not refer to the Altitonante electoral campaign ".

For the prosecution, the money was used to obtain an "interest"
The regional councilor of Forza Italia, from what emerged from the investigation documents, had received phone calls from the entrepreneur Luigi Patino (he too ended up in jail) asking him, as a former city councilor, to take an interest in " the Landscape Commission of the Municipality of Milan, concerning the issuing of the building permit "for a building owned by his wife. For the Milan Public Prosecutor, in exchange for his intervention, he would have received a 20 thousand euro bribe from the entrepreneur.

The defense: "No pressure, it's not corruption"
The reconstruction of Altitonante's lawyer, lawyer Luigi Giuliano, who also defends Pietro Tatarella, is different. "Those calls were not pressures for the building permit, which there were - the lawyer said -. There was no pressure, it is not episodes of corruption" but a simple interest on the part of the regional councilor of Forza Italia.

"Money used for an evening of Apulian comedians"
"Altitonante has resigned from his position as undersecretary to be free to defend himself better - explained the lawyer Giuliano -. He has not received the money and the funding does not refer to his electoral campaign. There is no money paid to Altitonante neither directly nor indirectly ", but that money" refers to the electoral campaign of the other candidate ", that is Pietro Tatarella, who used the 20 thousand euros to organize an evening of Apulian comedians. "Of the money collected - added the lawyer - 13 thousand euros have even advanced". Finally, the lawyer Giuliano explained that the magistrate was asked "to revoke the measure of custody and we await with confidence the opinion of the prosecutor and the judge's decision".