ROME, March 24 (Reuters) - An Italian justice undersecretary resigned on Tuesday following reports that he owned a stake in a restaurant chain with mafia links, marking the first shake-up in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government since a bruising referendum defeat this week.
Andrea Delmastro came under scrutiny this month after daily Il Fatto Quotidiano reported that he had held a stake in a Rome restaurant alongside the 18-year-old daughter of a man convicted for ties to the Camorra, a mafia group based around Naples.
A member of Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, Delmastro denied any wrongdoing and said he had sold his stake once he learned that his business partner’s father, Andrea Caroccia, had been convicted of mob-related charges.
However, his position worsened after la Repubblica newspaper published a photograph from 2023 showing Delmastro with Caroccia – an image the paper said showed the two men knew each other.
It also emerged that Delmastro had not declared his stake to parliament, as was required.
In his resignation statement on Tuesday, Delmastro said he had made a mistake but had not done anything unlawful.
“I have always fought crime and achieved concrete, important results. Although I did nothing wrong, I made an error of judgment, which I corrected as soon as I became aware of it. I take responsibility for that,” he said.
The scandal hung over the final days of campaigning last week for the referendum on the government’s judicial reform, giving the opposition a fresh opening to criticise the coalition’s handling of the justice ministry.
Both Meloni and Justice Minister Carlo Nordio have refused to resign following the referendum defeat, but Delmastro’s position appeared increasingly untenable as the media dug into his track record.
Last year, he was given an eight-month suspended prison sentence for revealing classified information about an anarchist held under maximum security.
(Reporting by Angelo Amante; Editing by Crispian Balmer)
