Rome, 9 July (LaPresse) – Corruption and bid rigging. These are the two charges that led to the arrest of the deputy mayor of the municipality of Sannicola, in the province of Lecce. The mayor of the Salento town is under investigation. Overall, the operation by the financial police led to the execution of 13 precautionary measures, one in prison and seven under house arrest. The measures were issued by the Preliminary Investigating Judge of the Court of Lecce, at the request of the local Public Prosecutor's Office. Prohibitions on contracting with the public administration were also issued against two other entrepreneurs, as well as measures requiring three other individuals to report to the judicial police. A total of 29 people are under investigation, including administrators and public officials, professionals and entrepreneurs, who are charged with various offences including criminal association for the purpose of corruption, disruption of public tenders, fraud in public procurement, embezzlement, perjury, unlawful interception, aggravated fraud against the State and for the purpose of obtaining public funds, forgery of public documents, in public competition rankings and tender documents. The investigations have established that several tender procedures, including a public competition organised by the same local authority, were systematically disrupted, in some cases by fraudulently steering the choice of contractor towards candidates who were colluding with senior public administrators in the municipality of Sannicola, also with the aim of boosting their electoral base.