Steals clothes and shoes donated to Humana for cooperation, driver reported.

The association noticed significant shortages and initiated an investigation that later reached the Carabinieri.

The contribution of a private investigator hired by the NGO was decisive.

Theft and embezzlement for stealing clothes, shoes, and jackets intended for solidarity in the most disadvantaged areas of the world and storing them in his garage. What would have happened next has not yet been determined, but investigations are underway to understand if, as suspected by those who filed a complaint with the police, a parallel market was active.

The 50-year-old from Gussago identified in recent hours must answer for all this. He is one of the drivers of the international humanitarian cooperation organization Humana People to People, which manages the yellow bins for collecting used clothing in a part of Bassa and Franciacorta, thanks to the operational headquarters in Torbole Casaglia, a branch of the main office in Milan.

The man is specifically involved in the recovery of clothes, shoes, bags, and jackets from the roadside bins, but the managers of the Brescia branch, after a series of reports, suspected that he was also doing something else.

For this reason, they commissioned the AIRO investigative agency to verify. And unfortunately, their suspicions were confirmed.

The thefts. The 50-year-old was supposed to only empty the containers and take everything to Torbole, but the investigator discovered that, before entering the warehouse, he selected the best pieces and transferred them to his car. These operations were repeated several times, so much so that, after the organization's formal complaint to the Gussago carabinieri, the military themselves documented what was happening with a video and then requested and obtained a search warrant.

When the police officers showed up, they combed through the man's garage, discovering hundreds of items including shoes, clothes, and jackets.

The organization. "We have made transparency our strength," explain Humana. "The episode makes it increasingly urgent to adopt tools to counter the risks associated with these activities and to verify, even within the organization, the fidelity in achieving social goals. Like Humana, only in Italy, we collect about 24,000 tons of used clothing and accessories every year, and thanks to these donations, we manage to generate an economic margin to be allocated to international cooperation projects in the Global South and socio-environmental projects in Italy."

Source: Giornale di Brescia, April 13, 2021

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