🧑💼 The De Gennaro, Prestipino Case and the Power System
We must ask a question that has long been buried under the dust of archives and the fog of propaganda: was Gianni De Gennaro truly a servant of the State, or was he sent to Sicily to watch, restrain — or worse — betray Giovanni Falcone?
When Falcone was transferred to Rome in 1991, De Gennaro was head of the SCO (Central Operational Service), and only after Falcone’s death was he promoted to the top ranks of the DIA. In those years, bombs exploded, judges were murdered, and the “right” men were rewarded. In the history of the Republic, many promotions occurred atop the ruins of those who truly fought for justice.
Who can rule out that De Gennaro, man of the intelligence services and operative arm of anti-mafia intelligence, was sent precisely to keep Falcone under control? Who can guarantee he played no role in the atmosphere of isolation that led to Falcone’s assassination? Who can deny that, after the massacres, it was the very State — political and deep — that rewarded the most obedient?
Today, De Gennaro heads the Eurolink consortium for the Strait of Messina Bridge. Not as a technician, but as a system man. So the doubt is more than legitimate: can someone who emerged ever more powerful from the bloodiest chapters of our history truly guarantee legality in a project worth over 120 billion euros?
This question is not defamation. It is memory. It is protection of the future.
On April 1st, 2025, in a Rome restaurant under surveillance by the authorities, a lunch was held that now shakes Italy’s institutional system. The most discussed figure is Michele Prestipino, deputy prosecutor at the National Anti-Mafia Directorate, under investigation for revealing official secrets. He allegedly shared confidential information on investigations into the ‘Ndrangheta with Gianni De Gennaro, president of the Eurolink consortium (in charge of the bridge project), and Francesco Gratteri, security consultant for the same project.
Gratteri is a former senior police official, not to be confused with the magistrate Nicola Gratteri. Although not currently under investigation, the presence at that table of two individuals involved in a major public project at high risk of mafia infiltration raises disturbing questions: how can people in power meet with anti-mafia magistrates to discuss confidential investigations?
Was that lunch to discuss investigations — or to decide who should be the next “sacrificial lamb”? History has shown us that in State crimes, customized truths are often built, and convenient culprits are chosen for the public. Remember how the first so-called “pentito” in the Capaci massacre case, Vincenzo Scarantino, led to the conviction of innocent people who spent over 23 years in isolation, until the truth surfaced.
Let’s be clear: the political system is not only corrupt, but capable of derailing even the most brutal investigations. Now imagine what could happen with a project worth over 120 billion euros, fully under political control, already threatened by mafia infiltration and scandal. Is it really so hard to believe they’re already identifying who to blame — even before the crimes are committed?
And here we must mention another name: Silvana Saguto, former head of the Preventive Measures Section of the Palermo Court, long hailed as a symbol of anti-mafia legality. She was definitively sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for criminally managing mafia-confiscated assets, distributing roles and money to friends and family. The Netflix documentary “Vendetta: The True Story of Silvana Saguto” showed how the judiciary exploited mafia property to build careers and fortunes.
This shows that placing an institutional figure like De Gennaro at the helm is no guarantee of transparency — it may mean perfecting the Italian-style scam. The system uses everything: mafiosi, ‘Ndrangheta, deviated apparatuses, and men with institutional faces to maintain the facade.
Once again, we see the same pattern:
- Promised and never completed infrastructures.
- Billions vanished.
- Politicians involved and never convicted.
- “Patsies” — perfect victims to sacrifice, scapegoats handed to the public.
- The Sicilian people labeled as mafiosi.
- Environmental destruction: rusting wind turbines on the hills, endless construction sites, cement poured into the Strait.
- Thousands of families expropriated and abandoned.
Is it normal that the head of an anti-mafia prosecutor’s office dines privately with a former intelligence chief, now president of Eurolink, just as Italy prepares its largest public works project ever? No. It’s alarming. And every honest citizen should reflect on this.
A project that wouldn’t yield millions, but billions to the political-criminal system of “Made in Italy,” built on the backs of Sicilians, and ready to shift the blame to the mafia or some disposable pawn.
And if Sicily has to pay the price again — so be it. In the vocabulary of Italian power, “Sicilian” and “mafioso” are synonyms. That is the real national disgrace.
🏗️ Who is Gianni De Gennaro and what is Eurolink?
- Gianni De Gennaro was Chief of the Italian Police from 2000 to 2007 and later Undersecretary to the Prime Minister with responsibility for the Secret Services.
- He has always held key roles in the State, particularly in security and intelligence.
- Today he is president of the Eurolink consortium, responsible for building the Bridge.
Eurolink S.c.p.A. is:
- A consortium formed in 2004 to construct the Bridge.
- Led by Webuild (formerly Salini Impregilo), with other national and international companies.
- Appointed by the public company Stretto di Messina S.p.A.
- The operational arm of the project, with direct ties to the government and state bodies.
As president, De Gennaro holds enormous power and oversees not just technical but also political and institutional aspects of Italy’s most expensive public work.
💸 How much does this Bridge really cost?
While the media cites 13.5 billion euros, actual estimates are far higher:
- Over 70 billion euros for complementary roads and railways.
- 15 billion just for the Sicilian side.
- 25 billion for high-speed integration.
- Over 1 billion already spent on penalties, designs, and waste.
Total: over 120 billion. A cost that could destroy both Sicily’s and Italy’s economy if things go wrong. But who will pay?
🏚️ The real risk: a displaced and abandoned Sicily
According to the plan, over 4,500 families could be expropriated. But if the project is halted midway, as has happened before:
- Families will be evicted for nothing.
- The island’s image will be tarnished by eternal construction sites.
- Landscapes and infrastructure will be scarred.
🚢 A betrayed future: ferries, workers, and whole sectors sacrificed
The Bridge endangers thousands of ferry workers, local tourism, and maritime commerce. Yet Sicily already has hundreds of incomplete infrastructures waiting to be finished — real jobs ready to go:
- Roads.
- Dams and rivers to manage.
- Forests to protect.
- Polluted areas to reclaim after decades of oil and heavy industry.
🌪️ The horror of phantom wind farms
Inland Sicily is littered with wind farms lacking even turbines — just rusting towers scattered across the countryside. A political and environmental scam enriching the usual circles, while generating zero energy.
❓ The questions that matter
🧾 1. If 4,500 families are evicted and the project fails, do politicians answer for social and reputational damage?
No. Unless specific crimes are proven, they are politically — not legally — untouchable.
🧾 2. If the State fears mafia infiltration now, can it later blame only the mafia when funds disappear?
Yes, and it often does. Even when it was its duty to prevent it.
🧾 3. Can politicians and mafiosi steal together, then make the people pay?
Yes. It’s happened before. It will happen again.
🧾 4. Can we create a law to punish entire political parties if corruption is exposed?
Not now. But that’s exactly what we Sicilian Independents are demanding.
📣 Conclusion: It is a political-criminal system — and Sicily always pays the bill
📜 Article 54 of the Italian Constitution: “Citizens entrusted with public functions have the duty to fulfill them with discipline and honor.”
Yet when it comes to large projects in Sicily, honor is exchanged for votes, power, and profits. No one ever answers for environmental disasters, wasted funds, or displaced families. The Bridge is just the latest act of a tragedy already written.
👥 Anonymous testimony – ferry worker:
“I have three kids. This bridge puts thousands of us at risk. They treat us like numbers. If you shut down a ferry route in the name of progress, at least secure a future for those who depend on it. Instead, they use us and throw us away.”
🛡️ Popular legislative proposal
We of Sicilia Indipendente demand a Constitutional Law on Collective Political Responsibility for major public contracts:
If corruption, fraud, or financial damage emerges:
- Dissolve the parties involved.
- Ban all government officials in charge during the scandal.
- Automatically compensate expropriated families with no public benefit.
Tie public funds to the completion of local, long-abandoned infrastructure before launching mega-projects.
📣 This isn’t utopia. It’s preventative justice. And if the Bridge must be built, let it at least be shielded from the usual white-collar thieves.
We are not against work. We want real work — not the scam of “great works.”
Work means restoring what has been abandoned.
Work means reclaiming polluted land, reconnecting isolated towns, building tourism and culture.
This bridge risks becoming another scar on Sicily’s body. And while they build it with our money, they’re already preparing to blame the mafia to wash their hands of it.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni plans her re-election, promising “grand projects,” while ignoring the disaster already unfolding under her leadership.
We of Sicilia Indipendente say enough is enough.
We will no longer pay for their scams. We demand justice, truth, and dignity.
📣 And so we ask:
Can the Sicilian people continue to be victims of a political-criminal system that answers to no one — neither right nor left — while using local puppets to justify itself?
Since 1861, we have been slaves to a State that never truly liberated us, but only looted and humiliated us.
Either we change everything now — or we become accomplices to our own martyrdom.