Prosecutors open corruption probe into Sicily bridge plan as ex-judge accused of leaking secrets for job promises
Rome prosecutors have launched a corruption investigation into a retired senior judge and two associates over the long-stalled Messina Strait bridge project, alleging the judge shared confidential court information in exchange for help landing a post-retirement position.
What prosecutors allege
Rome prosecutors say that Tommaso Miele, a now-retired president of a Court of Auditors section, shared confidential information about the court's internal deliberations on the bridge project with businessman Vincenzo Virgiglio and lawyer Giacomo Francesco Saccomanno. In return, according to the investigation, Miele was promised help in securing a high-level public-sector job after retirement, such as the presidency of Italy's antitrust authority or a state-controlled company. The probe centres on alleged efforts to sway the court's legitimacy review of the definitive project approval, which the government pushed through via a Cipess resolution.
I am not afraid, I have done absolutely nothing. It is a completely erroneous reconstruction. I hope they did it unintentionally.
The key figures
Miele, who retired in February 2026, served as an additional president of the Court of Auditors. Targeted alongside him are Saccomanno, a former board member of the Stretto di Messina company that manages the bridge project and an ex-commissioner of the League party in Calabria, and Virgiglio, an entrepreneur and head of the “Accademia Calabria” association. Intercepted conversations, cited in the search warrant, suggest Miele considered his colleagues “deficient” for blocking the project and boasted of connections to government figures, including infrastructure minister Matteo Salvini. The court had declined to greenlight the project in October 2025, a decision Miele disagreed with.
- Court of Auditors refuses to authorise the bridge project, blocking it.
- Judge Tommaso Miele retires from the Court of Auditors.
- Rome prosecutors open corruption investigation and order searches.
Political and public reaction
Opposition parties swiftly condemned the revelations. Giuseppe Conte, leader of the Five Star Movement, called the project “flawed” and urged the government to redirect the €13.5 billion toward families, healthcare, and businesses. The Democratic Party demanded the government appear before parliament. “No Ponte” activists and the former mayor of Messina, Renato Accorinti, renewed calls to scrap the plan, arguing that improved ferry services would suffice. The infrastructure ministry declined to comment, while Pietro Ciucci, CEO of Stretto di Messina, expressed surprise and stressed the company is not under investigation.
Systemic concerns
Giuseppe Busia, head of Italy's anti-corruption authority, noted that the €13.5 billion project was never put to public tender, raising “huge risks” under EU rules. He warned of a general weakening of anti-corruption safeguards, citing the abolition of the abuse-of-office offence and the scaling back of influence-peddling laws.
With this 13 billion contract not put out to tender, we are on the edge of the rules.
Busia also pointed to revolving doors between public regulators and private contractors as a broader vulnerability. The investigation, albeit at an early stage, has cast a fresh shadow over an infrastructure legacy that has divided Italian politics for decades.
