Campaign For A Living Venice

Singaporean entrepreneur Ching Chiat Kwong, defending himself against accusations of complicity in corruption in negotiations for the purchase of the Pili area, owned by Mayor Brugnaro, accuses the mayor of “greed” and of having tried to sell him the area while concealing the fact that the land is polluted

April 26, 2025

VENICE – Singaporean tycoon Ching Chiat Kwong, has counterattacked in his defense brief, accusing Luigi Brugnaro of “greed” and presenting himself the victim of a less than transparent operation. At the center of the dispute are the 41 hectares in Pili that the mayor of Venice had proposed for sale in 2015. The breaking point, according to Ching’s reconstruction, as reported by local newspapers, was the meeting in December 2017 in Brugnaro’s house in Mogliano Veneto. Luis Lotti, Ching’s business manager in Italy, reported this to investigators, but he denied that the mayor had asked for deposits, as claimed by entrepreneur and “major accuser” Claudio Vanin.

In the 81-page defense brief filed with the prosecutor’s office, lawyers for Ching – who is accused of complicity in corruption – reject any hypothesis of corruption on the part of their client, a point that the tycoon reiterated in an interview with Corriere della Sera on April 25, calling himself a “victim”. According to Ching, Brugnaro and his collaborator Derek Donadini hid the serious environmental problems the area has from him, that the land is polluted by the phosphogypsum from Porto Marghera. Ching then accuses Vanin of having spread false information. And a wiretapped conversation between Vanin and his lawyer has confirmed that the entrepreneur was considering a complaint against Brugnaro.

Ching’s lawyers insist that there was no formal agreement, no letter of intent, no signature on binding documents. They maintain that there were only preliminary plans, which the magnate never even saw. Ching is said to have refused the offers received on four occasions, reiterating that his interest was in creating a joint venture, not directly purchasing the land. According to the defense, therefore, any role involving corruption in the affair on Ching’s part must be excluded, especially regarding the purchase of Palazzo Papadopoli. The lawyers have asked for the case to be closed, and the prosecutor will soon evaluate whether to proceed with the referrals to trial.

In turn, Mayor Brugnaro, who, like the Singaporean magnate, is also trying to avoid trial for the negotiations on the Pili area, reiterated that “there were never even the premises for any agreement”. And he added: “It was public knowledge that the Pili area was polluted, and any serious designer would have done normal technical studies and preliminary investigations. In the meeting at my house in December 2017 I told him that I didn’t like the project that Mr. Vanin had shown me in October and that above all it couldn’t be done”.

The Opposition Attacks After Ching’s Defense: “Venice Doesn’t Deserve All This”

In his defense brief, Singaporean entrepreneur Ching Chiat Kwong – accused of complicity in corruption in the negotiations for the purchase of the Pili area, owned by Mayor Brugnaro – accuses the mayor of being too greedy and of having tried to sell him the area while concealing key elements such as the fact that the land is polluted. This has once again ignited the opposition, which for months has been asking for a step back by the mayor and the council.

The New Coalition: “Gigantic conflict of interests”

“Venice does not deserve to suffer all this” is the joint declaration of the forces that make up the new political coalition “La Stagione Buona” (Pd, M5S, Terra e Acqua, Italia Viva, Verde Progressista, +Europa, Partito Socialista, etc.). “Our city has gained national attention for the Palude investigation, for the situations of degradation and marginalization that also lead to violence, for the grip of an uncontrolled tourism that is not being opposed by any form of regulation, for the growing depopulation determined by the absence of policies for housing and services, and for being the only place in Italy where a sports arena and a stadium are being built with totally public money which has been taken away from the many emergencies underway” reads the note.

“We cannot continue to live this gigantic conflict of interests while the Municipality sinks further into degradation, lack of planning, impoverishment and distrust” add the parties, according to whom what is surprising now is “the silence of the majority political forces, which continue to look the other way, demonstrating complete disinterest in the city and an inability to grasp the difference between the real world and the one they tell themselves exits while closed up in their palace”.

Petition for Resignation “Suspended”

These considerations are also shared by Giovanni Andrea Martini of Tutta la Città Insieme (a civic list that is not part of the coalition), who points to the petition calling for the mayor’s resignation, which the city council should discuss soon. In fact, it should have been weeks ago. “Why has the petition not yet been entrusted to the commission that must start the investigation phase?”, asks Martini. “As Tutta la Città Insieme we have asked this question several times. At the last Council meeting, the President of the Council spoke to us of “procedural slowdowns” and postponed it to the next conference of Group Leaders. The petition process is that it should be assigned to a commission after thirty days. Yet more than four months have passed since its presentation. Are they trying to bury it?”

Source: Venezia Today