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CRIME

Stewardess arrested for carrying gun at Fiumicino

An American air hostess has been arrested in Rome’s Fiumicino airport after police discovered a gun in her hand luggage. Police are investigating whether the weapon is linked to recent criminal activity in the Italian capital.

Published: 24 June 2013 17:26 CEST
Stewardess arrested for carrying gun at Fiumicino
File photo of Fiumicino Airport: Ra Boe/Wikipedia

The American stewardess, described as being in her sixties and identified only by the initials J.J., was arrested on Sunday by Italian border police at Fiumicino airport, just outside Rome, Italian daily Il Messaggero has reported.

The air hostess had been about to board a US Airways flight between Rome and Charlotte, North Carolina, reports the paper, when airport security staff discovered a revolver in her hand luggage.

Moments before the discovery was made, the woman had been observed making “strange movements” inside her hand luggage.

The gun in question, a ‘Sig Sauer’ 40-caliber handgun, had been disassembled and five bullets had been fired, police said.

The woman was then arrested and is currently being held in Civitavecchia prison.

When questioned by police, the air hostess said she had brought the firearm over from the US.

Police have yet to determine when the shots were fired, why she was carrying the gun and if the gun has any link to any criminal activity which took place in the area of the city where the stewardess was staying.  

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POLITICS

Italy’s Liguria regional president arrested in corruption probe

The president of Italy's northwest Liguria region and the ex-head of Genoa's port were among 10 arrested on Tuesday in a sweeping anti-corruption investigation which also targeted officials for alleged mafia ties.

Published: 7 May 2024 12:52 CEST
Italy's Liguria regional president arrested in corruption probe

Liguria President Giovanni Toti, a right-wing former MEP who was close to late prime minister Silvio Berlusconi but is no longer party aligned, was placed under house arrest, Genoa prosecutors said in a statement.

The 55-year-old is accused of having accepted 74,100 euros in funds for his election campaign between December 2021 and March 2023 from prominent local businessmen, Aldo Spinelli and his son Roberto Spinelli, in return for various favours.

These allegedly included seeking to privatise a public beach and speeding up the renewal for 30 years of the lease of a Genoa port terminal to a Spinelli family-controlled company, which was approved in December 2021.

A total of 10 people were targeted in the probe, also including Paolo Emilio Signorini, who stepped down last year as head of the Genoa Port Authority, one of the largest in Italy. He was being held in jail on Tuesday.

He is accused of having accepted from Aldo Spinelli benefits including cash, 22 stays in a luxury hotel in Monte Carlo – complete with casino chips, massages and beauty treatments – and luxury items including a 7,200-euro Cartier bracelet.

The ex-port boss, who went on to lead energy group Iren, was also promised a 300,000-euro-a-year job when his tenure expires, prosecutors said.

In return, Signorini was said to have granted Aldo Spinelli favours including also working to speed up the renewal of the family’s port concession.

The Spinellis are themselves accused of corruption, with Aldo – an ex-president of the Genoa and Livorno football clubs – placed under house arrest and his son Roberto temporarily banned from conducting business dealings.

In a separate strand of the investigation, Toti’s chief of staff, Matteo Cozzani, was placed under house arrest accused of “electoral corruption” which facilitated the activities of Sicily’s Cosa Nostra Mafia.

As regional coordinator during local elections in 2020, he was accused of promising jobs and public housing in return for the votes of at least 400 Sicilian residents of Genoa.

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