Palermo, bribes for burials: Cosimo de Roberto arrested

The former director of the cemetery sector of the Municipality of Palermo Cosimo De Roberto was arrested and placed under house arrest for corruption and extortion as part of the investigation into bribery in the Rotoli cemetery that broke out last February and has already led to the notification of guarantee for ten employees of the ASP, municipal authorities and the subsidiary Reset. Investigators found that the responsible administrator was asking for sums of up to 800 euros from the family of the deceased to place the bodies at the top of the ranking of burials. There would be dozens of requests for money to skip the burial line at a cemetery where there are still 500 coffins waiting to be buried today.

This morning the police from the investigation unit carried out the precautionary custody order of house arrest signed by the Palermo investigating judge at the request of the deputy prosecutor Francesca Mazzocco and the deputy Sergio Demontis.

The investigative activity began in February after 10 warranties were notified and, at the same time, several raids were carried out, both inside the Santa Maria dei Rotoli cemetery and in some homes of the investigated subjects. Among the homes and offices, those of the detained municipal executive were also screened, where documents were found that have given further impetus to the investigations. Abnormal practices within the cemetery offices attributable to De Roberto that triggered new investigations by the military. Insights that mainly referred to De Roberto’s work in the months before the searches.
In a few weeks the carabinieri documented the occurrence of extortion and corruption against the then manager of the municipality’s cemetery sector. In particular, it was found that De Roberto, in exchange for paying undue sums of money (up to 800 euros), worked to illegally search for burial arrangements, without observing the rigorous chronological order imposed by the cemetery regulations.

The very serious deterioration of the city’s cemetery was also highlighted, inside which bodies awaiting burial remain stored for several months, causing hygiene and health problems.