One-eyed gangster faces corruption trial

A one-eyed former neo-fascist gangster and 45 other defendants have gone on trial accused of running a crime ring in Rome that skimmed millions of euros off city hall contracts.

Prosecutors say their year-long investigation has laid bare systemic corruption in the city as politicians, bureaucrats, and businessmen hooked up with mobsters to rig public tenders on everything from creating refugee centres to rubbish collection.

Massimo Carminati, a one-time member of Rome’s notorious far-right Magliana Gang, and his sidekick Salvatore Buzzi, a convicted murderer, are accused of running the operation, which prosecutors say represented a new type of mafia in Italy.