Italian police suspended over Trevi fountain trawlers

Italian police are under investigation for taking a cut of £12,000 of "wishing" coins scooped from the bottom of the Trevi fountain by men armed with brooms and buckets. Throwing small change into the water that cascades down the marble monument is supposed to bring good luck and ensure a return to the Eternal City. An estimated 14,000 euros (£12,000) is tossed into the fountain every week. The money is supposed to be collected by authorities and given to a Roman Catholic charity, Caritas.

But an Italian television programme secretly filmed the coins being scooped up from the fountain's turquoise waters by a gang of five middle-aged men. The sting took place early in the morning when the fountain, which at this time of year is normally thronged with crowds, was deserted. The men were filmed wading into its thigh-deep waters and helping themselves to hundreds of coins with the help of brushes, scoops and nets, while three police officers stood idly by.


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The officers were suspended as soon as the footage was broadcast on Italian television last week and will be sacked if found guilty. One of the men was filmed handing over an item to an officer, prompting suspicion that the police were being bribed to allow the theft to take place on a regular basis. When the men were challenged by a journalist from the television programme, they verbally abused him and shoved him headfirst into the fountain. The alleged ringleader of the gang, Roberto Cercelletta, who calls himself "D'Artagnan", uttered a string of profanities towards the camera crew, all of which was captured on film.

Angelo Giuliani, the commander of the police unit, condemned the inaction of his officers and announced an investigation. Gianni Alemanno, the mayor of Rome, accused the police of "intolerable laxness" and said he was "ashamed" that officers were apparently allowing money intended for the needy to be blatantly stolen. "The inaction shown towards those who were collecting the coins, and over the assault of the journalist, is completely unacceptable," he said. "Those in uniform cannot be allowed to behave like this. We cannot permit this sort of thing to go on in the city." Police are considering whether to press charges against the alleged thieves, who were filmed making off with buckets laden with coins.