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Amedeo Cinaglia

Amedeo Cinaglia was a Democratic Party of Italy politician and member of the Rome City Council during the 2000s. Cinaglia was originally a committed leftist, but, after falling out with some influential figures in Rome's Democratic Party (including his own wife, Gabriella Cinaglia, and her lover Stefano Forsini), Cinaglia was not renominated at the 2008 municipal elections, driving him to become involved in Mafia Capitale boss Samurai's schemes with the objective of acquiring a major political backer who could revive his career.

Biography[]

Samurai meeting with Cinaglia on the bus

Samurai meeting with Cinaglia on the bus

Amedeo Cinaglia was born in Rome, Lazio, Italy, and he became an active leftist and member of the Democratic Party of Italy; his wife Gabriella Cinaglia, a fellow left-wing activist, later separated from him and initiated a relationship with the corrupt Undersecretary of Culture, Stefano Forsini, leading to Cinaglia punching Forsini in the face at a party. Cinaglia entered politics as a city councilman, and he sought to cultivate a self-image as an everyman who took the bus home from work every day, and stood up for the people's interests. Cinaglia served on the City Council for many years and, by 2008, he was Chair of the Municipal Building Commission. That same year, however, he was not renominated by his party, allowing the Mafia Capitale crime boss Samurai to appeal to Cinaglia (through his right-wing political ally Giacomo Finucci) to allow building on a piece of beachfront land in Ostia in exchange for supporting Cinaglia's political future. Cinaglia was initially reluctant to help Samurai, but Samurai later met with Cinaglia on the bus which Cinaglia took home from work every day, and Samurai convinced Cinaglia that they both wanted what was best for Rome, and gave him a slip of paper with a note on it. Cinaglia later confronted his ex-wife in public and demanded that he be placed on one of the party's top three electoral list slots and be awarded the department of social policy should the Democratic Party win, but Gabriella reminded Amedeo that the Mayor chose the department chairs. Amedeo recalled that Gabriella could influence the Mayor's decisions, and he realized that Gabriella did not believe in him anymore; Gabriella said that Cinaglia was an idealist who wanted the impossible, and she walked off as Cinaglia asked her if he was a loser.

Samurai meeting with Cinaglia at the Suburra

Samurai meeting with Cinaglia at the Suburra

That night, Cinaglia met with Samurai at the Suburra, where Samurai told Cinaglia that he wanted to help the latter find his place in the world, revealing that he wanted the proposal for unifying the land in Ostia. Samurai said that he wanted the land deal to be approved before the Mayor's resignation came into effect, but Cinaglia told Samurai that the Ostia land had various owners, with the Church holding the biggest piece. He also warned Samurai that final approval required the signature of the Commissioner's technical counselor, Giacomo Finucci. Samurai assured Cinaglia that Finucci would not be a problem, saying, "Priests, criminals, and technical counselors...the cards are already marked. Know who's missing? You." When Cingalia was shocked, Samurai chuckled and said that Cinaglia was like a child seeking approval who discovered that, in the "grown-up world", there were other rules and other interests.

Cinaglia meeting Finucci in the restroom

Cinaglia meeting Finucci in the restroom

Cinaglia's depression, caused by his wife and party's betrayal, negatively impacted his work, as he behaved passive-aggressively towards fellow councillors Andrea Serri and Maurizio Gramini. He then had Finucci's secretary Crocefissa Savarese show him where Finucci was, and she pointed him to the restroom. There, Cinaglia asked Finucci how much Samurai paid him. When Finucci asked if Cinaglia wanted to know how much to ask for, Cinaglia asked if the other councilmen were on Samurai's payroll, but Finucci said that he knew of none, at least on the Ostia deal. Cinaglia then suggested that he could leak the arrangement and cause a scandal, and Finucci replied, "You already would have." He then told Cinaglia to call the commission and ask for an amendment to the agenda once he dealt with his conscience, adding that Cinaglia had to also ask for the Ostia proposal to be discussed first up. Finucci said that he would oppose the motion, but his opinion would only be a technical one. Cinaglia deduced that it would stay in the minutes and thus give Finucci an alibi, and Finucci responded, "Ostia's a strange business." Finucci then added, "Take my advice, make sure you get paid well."

Samurai meeting Cinaglia at the soccer field

Samurai meeting Cinaglia at the soccer field

Later that afternoon, Cinaglia sat on a park bench and met with Samurai, and Samurai - looking out at the kids playing soccer - curiously asked Cinaglia about the day he stopped dreaming about being a champion. Cinaglia said that he never played soccer, and, after a pause, he told Samurai that he would have the agenda amended so that the Ostia business would be discussed first. Cinaglia stated that rigging the agenda would be all he would do for Samurai, and Samurai clarified that the agenda business was all he wanted from Cinaglia. Samurai then asked Cinaglia's price, and Cinaglia responded that he wanted Samurai to pay for his election campaign, and that he wanted to be at the top of the ticket. Samurai told Cinaglia to do what he asked, and he assured him that he would be very generous. Samurai then stood up, and, when Cinaglia asked who the Ostia land was going to, Samurai jokingly warned Cinaglia, "Be careful, you might come to like this game."

Serri confronting Cinaglia

Serri confronting Cinaglia

The next day, Cinaglia suddenly told his assistant to rearrange the agenda and bring up Ostia first, and, when his secretary asked if Cinaglia had informed the other councillors, Cinaglia reminded his secretary that he was the chairman, and it was his prerogative. Serri confronted Cinaglia about the change in schedule, as the schedule was unable to be altered the day before, but he was suspicious that Cinaglia changed the schedule that day. Cinaglia said that it was due to urgent reasons, only for Serri to say that they were urgent for Cinaglia's own reasons. When Serri asked whom Cinaglia was doing the favor for, Cinaglia warned him to stop it, and he then left.

Cinaglia presiding over a board meeting

Cinaglia presiding over a board meeting

Cinaglia grew concerned after Finucci was indicted, fearing that Finucci would be placed under house arrest, and that he might be implicated in Finucci and Samurai's corruption. That night, Cinaglia met with Samurai and said that he was worried about what was happening with Finucci, and Samurai said that it was merely another problem to be solved; he would bribe whoever took Finucci's place, and Cinaglia would be the one to do it. Cinaglia then declared that he wanted to get out, and that he didn't want to be indicted as well. Samurai reminded Cinaglia that, as he had already done something for him, he was already compromised; he also warned him that it was not the press and the Mayor he should be afraid of. Samurai said that the Mayor was going in two weeks, and the game would be over, and he declared that he needed someone in Finucci's place that instant. The next day, he found out from his ex-wife that the party was putting Gianni Taccon, a politician (and architect) with a clean resume, in Finucci's place. That afternoon, Cinaglia introduced himself to Taccon, remembering him from the 1999 party convention, where Taccon gave an amazing speech on culture. Taccon assured Cinaglia that no opaque dealings would go ahead without him on the commission, and Cinaglia facetiously said that the commission needed people like Taccon. That night, Amadeo met with Finucci, who was under house arrest, and he asked what was in the Ostia paperwork. Finucci was paranoid, asking if Samurai sent Cinaglia to see how he would do under pressure, but Cinaglia said that Samurai was unaware of his visit, and repeated his question. Cinaglia revealed that Samurai was going to bring the Mafia into business in Rome, and Ostia would be their port of entry.

The next day, Samurai appeared outside of Amedeo's wife's perfume-on-tap shop, where he met with Amedeo to ask how much Taccon would cost them. Cinaglia responded that Taccon said that he had no price, but Samurai said that everyone had a price, and he reminded Cinaglia to get Taccon on their side. Cinaglia found out from Taccon's twelve-year assistance that Taccon loved museums, so he decided to invite Taccon to visit a museum with him and break the ice. The next day, Cinaglia met with Samurai and said that he believed he could buy Taccon, but said that Taccon would investigate the documents and find out that the Mafia was involved. Cinaglia demanded that he renegotiate his deal with Samurai, but Samurai said that Cinaglia had done nothing thus far, and said that he would still dictate the terms.

The next day, Cinaglia sat with his ex-wife's new boyfriend Stefano Forsini at a restaurant and attempted to blackmail him into using his power to make Taccon the new director of museums in Rome, reminding Forsini of his own past ties to wind-power lobbyists. Cinaglia's ex-wife summoned him to her office to ask who was behind Cinaglia's push to promote Taccon, and he ultimately revealed that Samurai was pulling the strings, and that he was partnering with a man who worked with everyone in Rome, including the party. Cinaglia's wife revealed that she had stopped Forsini from reporting Cinaglia for attempted blackmail, but said that she might have been wrong to do so. That night, Cinaglia persuaded Samurai to help him find proof of Forsini's corruption, as Forsini was his key to Taccon; Samurai agreed, and commented that Cinaglia might be starting to enjoy working with him.

Gallery[]

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