The minutes report statements by Zuin and Colle, who describe Mayor Brugnaro as an absolute master: “Nobody contradicts him”
January 17, 2025
VENICE
Further details are emerging about Luigi Brugnaro’s role in the events being investigated as part of the so-called “swamp investigation” by the Guardia di Finanza: in particular, his attitude as an absolute master, described both by the deputy mayor (at the time) Luciana Colle and by the budget assessor, Michele Zuin, in their respective testimonies given to prosecutors leading the investigation.
Colle and Zuin were questioned last August, a few weeks after the raid that led to the arrest, among others, of former councilor Renato Boraso for corruption. Their testimonies concern in particular the meeting at Ca’ Farsetti on April 24, 2016, during which Brugnaro illustrated to Ching Chiat Kwong, a magnate from Singapore, the characteristics of the Pili area (owned by Brugnaro) as the object of a sale negotiation.
Some excerpts of the statements contained in the minutes were published today by the press. Zuin said: “I confirm that the mayor showed Ching aerial photos of the Pili area. I remember that Brugnaro was proposing the Pili lands to the financier and was giving assurances to Ching about the possibility of building there. Distracted by the prospect of selling the public buildings they had discussed, I underestimated the fact that the mayor was also promoting the sale of his lands on Pili”. Also, says Zuin, “when the mayor is present, only he speaks, and I and the others intervene only if questioned or only if he makes a big mistake”.
Colle’s statements were similar: “I was called to attend these meetings just to make up the numbers, but I didn’t speak. I always stayed on the sidelines. At a certain point the Pili area came up and Brugnaro said “I know you did the waterfront on the Thames” and added that there was the possibility of doing a similar transaction in Venice”. The former deputy mayor added: “I noted that at the meeting the mayor offered building opportunities, including residential ones. I didn’t realize that he was giving assurances about the buildability of land that he privately owned.”
It emerges again from Colle’s statements that in general “the climate in the council did not allow anyone to challenge Brugnaro”, apart from the councilors with the most important delegations. “There was never any real discussion in the council”. While Zuin added that “many managers did not have the courage” to contradict the mayor, “and would only complain after the fact”.
The opposition parties commented on the statements, saying they “confirm what we have been denouncing for some time: there is a serious deficit of democracy and transparency in the Municipality of Venice “. This administration “is characterized by a method of serving a master” – declared the coordinators of the alternative forces – “The scenario is desolate: an administration built on fear and servility, which appears to have tried to bend the public interest to private and personal advantages”. The group (composed of the PD, Verdi e Sinistra, M5S, PSI, Italia Viva, +Europa, Radicali, Verde Progressista, Terra e Acqua and Venezia è tua) has resumed calling for the mayor’s resignation as has Giovanni Andrea Martini (Tutta la Città Insieme): “The statements of Zuin and Colle are as heavy as boulders, the Brugnaro council cannot survive them”.
Source: Venice Today
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