Italian police arrest officials on charges of corruption linked to Expo Milano

Italian police on Thursday detained seven people including public officials on charges of bid rigging and corruption related to the upcoming Expo Milano 2015.

Prosecutors in Milan have uncovered a sort of "mafia commission" to "influence contracts, some of which related to Expo, by promising career advancements to public officials thanks to political protection," according to judicial sources quoted by ANSA news agency.

Among the arrested there were the Expo Milano 2015 procurement planning manager Angelo Paris, and Antonio Rognoni, former manager of an infrastructure company owned by the local government of Lombardy region, of which the capital is Milan.

Rognoni had already been detained in March for alleged bid rigging and connected fraud against the regional authorities. The other five suspects arrested on Thursday were politicians from different parties, including two former PMs, and an entrepreneur, according to local media.

All of them were reportedly connected with the outsourcing of legal contract-control and consulting services also linked to the world exposition that will run in the Italian business capital from May 1 to Oct. 31, 2015.

"I will give you all contracts you want if you favor my career," Paris was quoted as saying in a wiretap by ANSA.

Commenting on the arrests, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi stressed "there should be maximum severity if crimes have been committed," while the president of Lombardy region Roberto Maroni said he was "certain of the need to ensure absolute cleanliness."

Local experts have repeatedly warned over the past months of the high risk of mafia infiltration in the world exposition, which they said actually does not lie as much in tenders but rather in works at the site.

Though the Expo Milano 2015 has adopted a protocol of legality, also expelling some companies allegedly linked to organized crime, more help should come from national legislation, experts have said.

According to Milan-based joint research center on transnational crime Transcrime, Lombardy region's mafias have a daily turnover of more than 10 million euros (13.8 million U.S. dollars).