A group of elderly people left to fend for themselves in a retirement home, according to the accusation, were kept without heating and hot water, in unsuitable environments and receiving the arbitrary administration of medicines without medical consultation. The accusation of the Prosecutor’s investigation into the management of the “Casa del Sole” retirement home holds up: the Court of Assizes sentenced Giovanna Scarfò to 14 years and 6 months in prison; Cecilia Pristipino at 13 years and 6 months; and Margherita Battaglia at 12 years and 6 months. All three were subjected to perpetual disqualification from holding public offices, legal disqualification for the duration of the sentence and a five-year ban on carrying out activities requiring specific authorizations or licences. The three women were sentenced, jointly and severally, to pay damages to the civil parties. The Court of Assizes has reserved the deadline for filing the motivation at ninety days. The civil parties were represented by lawyers Saverio Gatto, Giuseppe Lo Presti, Aldo Labate and Attilio Parrelli.
The investigation dates back to 2021 when a disturbing accusation emerged. According to the Nas carabinieri who investigated two women, owners of the retirement home considered by the investigators to be abusive (attacked by precautionary measures), and three employees suspected of the crimes of mistreatment towards cohabitants and abandonment of incapable people, aggravated by having caused the death of a guest. The operation, called “La Signora”, involved 7 other people including a surveyor who falsely certified the presence of 4 separate family homes in the building that met the minimum structural requirements.
The Nas investigation covers a period of time from January to May 2021 and started from the complaint of a lady whose husband, suffering from a neurodegenerative disease, had died in hospital after a period of hospitalization in a retirement home. The investigations were supported by telephone interceptions, acquisition and analysis of medical records and sanitary inspections, as well as by shadowing and observations.
