BY LIRIO ABBATE 21 May 2014 L'ESPRESSO
For years he has been considered a figure of great influence in the rooms of the Ministry of Health. And Beatrice Lorenzin has just promoted Romano Marabelli, 60, appointing him general secretary of the dicastery. He did so without paying attention to the revelations of "l'Espresso", which a month ago published the name of the public official among those under investigation in the maxi-investigation of the Rome prosecutor's office on the virus business. Much attention is paid to Marabelli's role in the investigators' records: he was for decades the number one in veterinary matters, directing the department of the ministry. The top management of the Istituto zooprofilattico delle Venezie, the heart of the investigation, turned to him to conclude deals of a certain economic importance. According to the Nas carabinieri, who conducted the investigation, in 2006 Marabelli was paid sums of money to close a contract for the sale to the Dutch government of a patent on tests against the avian epidemic.
Marabelli is involved in an investigation that has highlighted serious distortions in the management of health emergencies, starting with the alarm for the avian epidemic. Interceptions and seizures have rebuilt an international smuggling of viruses, with the risk of spreading epidemics: all to conquer the rich vaccine market. An interweaving of business that mainly concerns the protection of farms but which, according to the investigators, has also exposed the population to the danger of epidemics. The Rome prosecutor's office has registered another thirty people in the register of suspects, including doctors, researchers, officials of the Ministry of Health, managers of the Venetian prophylactic institute and managers of pharmaceutical companies, accused in various capacities of criminal association aimed at corruption, bid rigging, abuse of office and illicit virus trafficking.
Among the suspects there is also the virologist Ilaria Capua, current parliamentarian of Civic Choice, who decisively rejected all the charges: "Never committed an offence". The assistant prosecutor Giancarlo Capaldo is completing the investigative documents and his decision on the fate of the proceeding is awaited: some of the disputed crimes date back to 2006 and could be close to the statute of limitations.
The hypotheses against Marabelli arise above all from intercepted phone calls. According to the Carabinieri investigation, contact with Marabelli was held by the director general of
