Investigation for corruption at the ASP of Catania, Sammartino and La Faraone acquitted

Last Updated: May 3, 2024

The judge in Catania, accepting the request from the District Attorney’s Office, has archived an investigation for corruption conspiracy involving the regional deputy of the League Luca Sammartino and the former manager of the ASP of Catania, now commissioner of the ASP of Palermo, Daniela Faraoni. The investigation focused on contracts for software management at the ASP of Catania. The case was opened after a complaint from businessman Gianluca Dova, who reported his brother Marco for alleged connections with regional deputy Luca Sammartino, suggesting that they had an agreement involving hiring in exchange for contracts with the company. Daniela Faraoni was investigated because, as administrative director of the ASP of Catania, she signed the resolution at the center of the investigation. However, the evidence collected was not sufficient to support the accusation in court, and the District Attorney’s Office requested and obtained the archive of the case from the judge, which also involved two other managers of the ASP of Catania. The position of businessman Marco Dova was transferred to Pomezia due to territorial jurisdiction. Sammartino, a prominent figure in the League on the island, elected with around 21,000 preferences in the 2022 regional elections, the second most voted in Sicily, resigned on April 17 as vice president of the Sicilian Region and as Minister of Agriculture after being suspended from public office by the judge of Catania in the context of the “Pandora” investigation, where he is investigated for two alleged cases of corruption: one involving an exchange of favors to obtain votes for the then candidate of the Democratic Party in the 2020 European elections, Caterina Chinnici, who is entirely unrelated to the investigation, and another involving contacts with two carabinieri to acquire confidential information about any investigations against him and technical bug sweeps in the premises of his office.