Italy police arrest 8 in alleged mafia quake contracts

Italian financial police have arrested eight people in an investigation into alleged corruption and mafia-infiltrated rebuilding contracts after a 2016 earthquake in central Italy.

Police said 51 people were suspects in the wider investigation and that assets worth more than 57 million euros, or $64 million, had been seized in the province of Ancona on Italy's eastern coast.

In a statement, police alleged an unlawful system involving contracts for private reconstruction after the 2016 earthquake and public tenders issued by the Marche region and other entities.

Police alleged that subcontracts for privately managed reconstruction work using public funds went to organised crime groups in Calabria and Campania, while public officials and entrepreneurs engaged in acts of corruption.

More than 50 searches were carried out Thursday by 230 financial police officers. The October 30, 2016 earthquake measured magnitude 6.5 and damaged parts of Ancona. There were no fatalities. It followed an August 24, 2016 earthquake in central Italy that killed 299 people.