Former audit court president Miele resigns from CSM oversight role amid Strait of Messina bridge corruption probe

Tommaso Miele, the former deputy president of the Italian Court of Auditors (Corte dei Conti), resigned on 11 June 2026 from his position as president of the Board of Auditors of the High Council of the Judiciary (CSM). The move follows his implication in a Rome prosecutor's investigation into corruption surrounding the long-debated Strait of Messina bridge project.

The resignation

Miele had held the CSM oversight role since April 2025, initially on an unpaid basis for the 2025–2028 term. In March 2026, after his retirement from the Court of Auditors in February, the CSM plenum voted to make the position remunerated at a gross annual salary of €27,000. Sources within the CSM confirmed the resignation, which Miele attributed to "reasons of expediency," according to La Stampa.

Full confidence in the work of the judiciary. In time, my client's total non-involvement in the charges will become clear.

The investigation

Rome prosecutors, with the investigation delegated to the Carabinieri's ROS special operations unit, are pursuing charges of corruption, disclosure of official secrets, and attempts to influence the Court of Auditors' judgment on the definitive bridge project. Alongside Miele, lawyer Giacomo Francesco Saccomanno and entrepreneur Vincenzo Virgiglio are also under investigation.

At the center of the probe is Miele's alleged role in passing confidential information about the orientations of audit magistrates and the progress of council chambers deliberating on the infrastructure. In exchange, investigators claim, Miele was promised future public appointments or roles in state-controlled companies after his retirement. Conversations in the case file reportedly mention top-level positions, including the possible presidency of Italy's Antitrust authority.

Alleged interference

Following the Court of Auditors' negative ruling on the bridge project on 29 October 2025, Miele is accused of preparing a technical memorandum on behalf of the project company Stretto di Messina Spa, intended to strengthen its defensive legal position. Rai news reported that Saccomanno and Virgiglio also attempted to corrupt two other audit magistrates deemed useful to the group's interests, but those approaches failed when the magistrates declined the invitations.

Corruption, disclosure of official secrets, and attempts to condition the Court of Auditors' judgment on the definitive Strait of Messina bridge project are the charges brought by the Rome Prosecutor's Office.

The bridge project

The Strait of Messina bridge, a planned suspension bridge connecting Sicily to the Italian mainland, has been one of Italy's most contentious infrastructure projects for decades. The Court of Auditors' negative assessment in October 2025 marked a significant procedural hurdle, and the current corruption investigation adds a further layer of legal complication to the project's already uncertain path forward.