EPPO Seeks Dismissal of Misappropriation Case Against Webuild CEO

The European Public Prosecutor's Office has requested the dismissal of a case against Webuild CEO Pietro Salini over alleged misappropriation of funds related to a billion-euro dam project in Genoa. Lack of evidence and emergency procedural rules underpin this move, pending a final court decision.

The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) has moved to halt the case against Webuild CEO Pietro Salini and three others for alleged misuse of public funds, according to judicial documents released on Thursday. The inquiry involved a 1.3-billion-euro dam project in Genoa, heavily funded by European and national sources.

Sources revealed the EPPO's Turin office is pressing the Genoa court to terminate proceedings alleging various offences, including bid rigging and misappropriation. Alongside Salini, former Genoa port authority head Paolo Emilio Signorini, Webuild's tender manager Alberto Colosio, and consortium member Jan Albert Vandenbroeck were named for exoneration.

The EPPO document highlighted insufficient evidence for criminal charges and permitted emergency procedures post-Genoa's 2018 bridge disaster. Environmental complaints and procedural issues were declared non-criminal. The case's fate now rests on a Genoa judge's discretion.

(With inputs from agencies.)