A steady stream of politicians, public officials and businesspeople visited the yacht Leila, moored at Genoa’s Marina Fiera, according to images obtained by Italy’s Guardia di Finanza. The boat belongs to businessman Aldo Spinelli, who named it after his late wife.
The footage reportedly captures meetings involving Ligurian governor Giovanni Toti and his predecessor Claudio Burlando, who is not under investigation in the case. It also shows Genoa mayor Marco Bucci aboard the yacht. The report says Bucci was heard in a phone conversation speaking with Spinelli and Toti.
Toti and Spinelli were placed under house arrest on Tuesday in connection with allegations of corruption and other offences. Investigators are examining donations Spinelli made in recent years to committees linked to Toti, which prosecutors interpret as bribes.
According to the report, Spinelli generally hosted guests for lunch and left his two mobile phones outside the yacht to prevent confidential discussions on deck from being intercepted. A photograph included in prosecutors’ request for precautionary measures shows those phones alongside a phone belonging to Spinelli’s son and one belonging to Paolo Signorini, then president of the Genoa Port Authority. Signorini is in prison and is alleged to have received promises or gifts worth €400,000 from Spinelli.
The image is dated December 1, 2021, when Toti was photographed boarding at 1:35 p.m. The visit came on the eve of approval of a 30-year extension to the concession for the Rinfuse terminal, a decision affecting Spinelli’s company. The report says Spinelli made a further contribution to Toti only after the port authority, led by Signorini, approved the measure.
Signorini also reportedly had lunch aboard with Spinelli, his son and Toti. Two later photographs show Signorini on the quay preparing to leave with Toti, while a car with a regional government driver waited for the governor. The conversations aboard were recorded using surveillance software installed by the Guardia di Finanza on phones belonging to people under investigation, and were transcribed in the case documents.
Sources: Corriere della Sera.