A report based on investigative material from Italy’s Guardia di Finanza outlines contacts between Ligurian governor Giovanni Toti and businessman Aldo Spinelli, including political donations and meetings ahead of elections. Toti was arrested on corruption charges, according to the report, which says donations to his committees totalled €74,000 over three years. The allegations concern payments made while Spinelli sought decisions affecting his business interests.

In a phone call on May 3, 2020, Spinelli complained that a lack of available port space was limiting his logistics operations. Toti replied that the port was growing and said they should meet before the elections. The report says Spinelli transferred €15,000 to Toti on May 25.

Both men reportedly insisted that contributions be formally declared. In September, Toti instructed an assistant to send Spinelli’s office the details needed to make a donation through the usual process. The report says Spinelli later gave €40,000 to the Giovanni Toti-Liguria committee in early December, after the extension of a concession for Rinfuse had been under discussion. It cites the Guardia di Finanza as saying the sum had been requested repeatedly by Toti.

Spinelli told an executive at an investment fund that his son opposed donations to political parties, but that he felt obliged to support local politics. The executive warned him that political contributions could create reputational concerns. The report says investigators documented continued financial support for Toti despite those concerns.

In another exchange, Toti asked Spinelli when he could visit his newly purchased yacht and said he had “a few things” to ask him, as usual around that time. Toti visited the boat on September 8, 2022, and the report says Spinelli transferred another €15,000 that day. It also describes Spinelli’s complaint that campaign advertising on Genoa buses was unaffordable at the time.

The report further recounts Spinelli’s hospitality to Paolo Signorini, then president of the Port Authority, including 22 weekends in Monaco. In a separate conversation about equipment occupying part of the port, Spinelli reportedly told Signorini that, at 83, he did not expect to face consequences. The Guardia di Finanza noted that Signorini did not object, according to the report.

Sources: Corriere della Sera.