Favors for family members, corruption and answers given in advance for the “Tfa support” competition. Thus Ida Sisca, former head teacher of the “Pertini-Santoni” of Crotone now retired, would have managed the school. The Prosecutor’s Office is convinced of this with the investigation that yesterday led to the house arrest of the 69-year-old former principal and her son-in-law Ernesto Calabretta, 40, owner of the “UniCrotone” school and university training center.
The precautionary measures were ordered by investigating judge Elisa Marchetto who accepted the request of prosecutor Alessandro Rho, now on duty in Reggio. Sisca is accused of corruption, embezzlement, attempted and completed extortion, revelation of official secrets, fraud, forgery, undue inducement to give and receive benefits, for events that occurred in the years 2021-2022. Instead, Calabretta must answer for corruption and procedural fraud for disputes dating back to 2022. The investigations conducted by the Crotone Carabinieri involve a total of 23 people, including teachers, vice-principal, entrepreneurs, members of the evaluation commission for the selection of 25 professional educators for the implementation of a project to support pupils with disabilities.
The investigations took hold from the complaint presented, in June 2021, by a construction contractor who complained to the Carabinieri of the intimidation and threats suffered by Sisca after carrying out work at the “Pertini-Santoni”. The owner of the company had been ordered by the 69-year-old to give up some sums of money for interventions carried out in her family’s apartment. Otherwise, he would no longer be in charge of school procurement. And so, subsequent investigations revealed the alleged “corruption plot” set up by the former principal to the point of also vitiating the competitions announced by the Link Campus University of Rome (offended party).
Above all, the management of the school when it was directed by Sisca ended up at the center of the investigations. Which – according to the investigators – for example, would have induced a furniture seller, assignee of a loan, to promise her 3,500 euros which were then converted into private work including a move.
Among the “rosary” of accusations, also the promise of money received by Sisca and Calabretta from the participants in the “Tfa support” competition for high schools, announced by Link Campus for the year 2021-2022. In detail: the former principal, through an unknown public service employee, revealed to four candidates the answers to the pre-selection test for the active training internship in exchange for the payment of 3 thousand euros each. But Sisca is also accused of failing to communicate to the competent bodies the unjustified absences of a temporary teacher, his relative, to avoid her dismissal. Together with the alleged forgery to “place” his family members, excluded from the commission, in the ranking of the “Fami 2014-2020 – Calabria Friends” project. While the procedural fraud attributed to Calabretta concerns the activation of a new SIM card, following the seizure of his mobile phone, to access Telegram and delete some conversations.
