Pasquale Striano is the financial police investigator at the center of Perugia's investigation into the matter. Numerous investigations are underway regarding him. According to the prosecution, he used his position as head of the Suspicious Transaction Reporting (SOS) group to compile files which he then passed on to journalists. Former magistrate Antonio Laudati, responsible for reporting at the National Anti-Mafia Directorate, is also being investigated with him. Eight journalists and the two of them are also under investigation. The investigation counts a total of 15. But today, Striano himself decides to speak with The truth. And in Maurizio Belpietro's diary, the Fiamme Gialle officer admits to having made 40,000 accesses: “But I was acting on orders from the public prosecutor.” And he adds: “In the DNA, we think little about the mafia and a lot about power”
Silvio Berlusconi
Striano talks about the file on Silvio Berlusconi. But this time, the financier's research came after and not before a newspaper article. That is to say the daily Tomorrow from January 20. The research came later. It is for this reason that Raffaele Cantone does not dispute his espionage in favor of Carlo De Benedetti's diary. The accessions concerning Giuseppe Conte and Domenico Arcuri also come after information published in the newspapers. The truth explains that those who know Striano, 59 years old, originally from Campania, know that during these hours the policeman is eager to go to court to argue his reasons. “We cannot think that there is a war machine behind this man,” he confided to those close to him. “Is it true that I am being attacked in such a brazen manner, even violating all the rules of confidentiality, even by the Perugia public prosecutor's office who, I can assure you, have done a lot of stupid things?” he adds.
Perugia's bullshit
Striano provides the real access numbers: “They didn't understand anything about the numbers they gave, they don't know what the procedures were, they don't know anything. I did not see 4,000 suspicious transaction reports (the SOS sent by the banks to the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Bank of Italy, editor's note), as they say, I saw 40,000. It was my work. I was a super professional person who received news from everywhere. I admit it, even with methods that are not always orthodox. But they shouldn't make me into someone I'm not. I will now present my own reasons, because they (the investigators, ed) invent a lot of things to amplify a story that is ultimately quite ridiculous.”
The 40 thousand hits
And he maintains the point: “My job was to carry out anti-mafia activities and to do it well. To deal with phenomena that could be relevant: the business behind Covid, bitcoin, Nigerians. I have always and exclusively done that.” He has very clear ideas about the Anti-Mafia Directorate: “It has no reason to exist. If the DNA was as Falcone designed it, as was the Directorate of Anti-Mafia Investigations for which I worked – and I'm not the type to spit on the plate he ate on – so it would be different. But unfortunately, there are men there who are no longer capable of carrying out investigations. investigations. I pointed out the critical issues to those in charge and I wasn't looking for gratification. Then, I didn't find out, there was a fight between magistrates. A competition to see who was the best, who was the more beautiful, who had the most power. I will explain it to the prosecution and to the Court.”
Files and desire
Striano's thesis is that his management of the files prior to the investigation earned him envy: “Not just internal envy, because at the national level, there is disorder there.” But he was only working: “To deepen our lines of investigation, the magistrates went where they knew, they chose the DDA with this criterion and it is a somewhat scandalous fact. I didn't care about that logic. If I wrote a good note, the important thing for me was that it was studied in detail, that I was told that it was well done.” Whereas in the Anti-Mafia, everyone pursues their own interests: “Unfortunately, it is like this. Now this mess has happened to me and for this I will have to defend myself. But there are no disturbing facts here, as the investigators claim, things become like this in many other pieces, you understand? But they didn't concern me. I heard a lot of things, but it didn't interest me.”
Striano, Laudati and Melillo
Striano claims that some of SOS's reports on economic relations between Marcello Dell'Utri, Berlusconi and other subjects came to him from other judicial offices rather than from the ANP. “At Melillo's request,” Striano says today, “we only checked why the reports to the Anti-Money Laundering Department had not reached Reggio Calabria and I took note and explained why things happened like this. I also made some accesses to give these explanations. I wasn't afraid of anything.” And again: “But there are many things that were specifically asked of me. I'm not going to take care of the servant. I'm going to explain to you what my method was. So the judge , perhaps, will tell me: “You shouldn't have done that.” Then I will answer: “But I didn't have to ask for authorization in advance. And in any case my results came with this method work.” I have a clear conscience and I am the first to say that everything happened a bit by chance. But I also admitted it to Melillo. My goal was to achieve impulsive actions that were well executed. My satisfaction was just that.”
A strategy
Striano is convinced that there is a strategy against him behind everything: “There is something bigger behind this story. We're talking about the world of guns here, and attention to certain topics immediately diminished after my case blew up. Because it's not just about bed and breakfasts. » That is to say the corporate name of Crosetto's business with the Mangiones. The minister continues to hold shares in all three companies. “Behind this choice, there is a precise strategy,” says Striano. “If we abandon them, we admit something… but if we stay inside, we must insist on the fact that there was another problem, that of the distribution of income. In this way, attention was diverted and the other story turned into chivalry. »
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