Umberto Filibeck the pro tempore general manager of Alfa, recently appointed by the Minister of Labor and Health Maurizio Sacconi to replace Nello Martini, suspended due to the investigation into the alleged bribes. Filibeck, the most senior member of the drug agency, will hold the position at least until the outcome of the internal investigation promoted by the Ministry of Health. On the basis of the final report that will come from the ministerial commission, a note explained, "the ministry will take the consequent measures for the best effectiveness of the public functions concerning the control and circulation of medicines". The investigation had led, last May 21, to eight arrests. The investigating judge Sandra Recchione, accepting the requests of the prosecutors Raffaele Guariniello, Sara Panelli and Gianfranco Colace, of the Turin prosecutor's office, had literally beheaded the top management of the Agency. In addition to Martini, who has already made it known that she wants to challenge the suspension through her lawyers, Caterina Gualano, manager of the Office for marketing authorizations for drugs and, in fact, number two of AIFA, was also suspended from office. The deeds relating to these measures were sent to the Rome prosecutor's office, which had already been assigned the branch of the investigation relating to the alleged round of bribes to influence controls on the marketing of medicines. In the meantime, however, the hunt for a mole is still going on in Turin who would have revealed compromising news on the investigation. Today, in fact, Roberto Ceresa, Bayer's nealth policy, investigated in the Alfa investigation on charges of corruption in judicial documents was questioned for the second time. The hypothesis of the investigators is that Ceresa, together with her colleague Umberto Filippi, passed confidential information to Nello Martini in exchange for concessions in practice for a medicine. The man, however, rejected all charges, stating that he did not know any of the employees in service at the courthouse in Turin nor, least of all, among the members of the forces of order. Avvenire of 06/24/2008 p. 11
