Overview

• Mayor Tommaso Minervini was placed under house arrest by a Trani judge on charges of corruption, embezzlement and bid-rigging.
• The order also confines municipal director Lidia De Leonardis after a preventive interrogation of eight suspects on May 2.
• The Guardia di Finanza and Trani prosecutors allege a vote-for-contract network steered public tenders to allied businesses.
• Investigators say the probe covers 21 provisional charges related to allegedly rigged bids on city projects including the new commercial port.
• Minervini’s lawyer has announced plans to appeal the house arrest decision to the Bari Court of Appeal.