Italian prosecutors have ordered arrests and asset seizures in an investigation into corruption and illegal labour practices on the Naples–Bari high-speed rail project, with bribes allegedly concealed inside panettone cakes, Il Sole 24 ORE reports.

The festive-season wrappers served as the delivery vehicle for cash payments intended for officials and intermediaries connected to the works, according to the investigation. The scheme forms part of a broader criminal picture on one of Italy's most significant railway infrastructure programmes.

The Naples–Bari corridor is a cornerstone of national and European rail strategy. Rete Ferroviaria Italiana is upgrading the route to full high-speed, high-capacity standards, cutting journey times between the two cities and strengthening the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian networks' interconnection through the Apennine base tunnels. Construction involves major civil works contracts awarded to large Italian contracting groups, with EU and national funding attached to the TEN-T network completion.

Prosecutors allege that alongside the corruption payments, contractors and subcontractors on the project engaged in illegal labour practices, including the use of undeclared and irregularly employed workers on the construction sites. Labour exploitation of this kind on major public works has repeatedly surfaced in Italian investigations, and the Naples–Bari file now adds one of the country's flagship rail schemes to that record.

The judicial action includes precautionary arrests and seizures of assets believed to derive from the alleged illegal activity. As is standard under Italian procedure, those arrested remain presumed innocent pending trial, and the measures represent an investigative stage rather than a final judgment.

The case puts renewed scrutiny on procurement oversight for the high-speed programme. Italian prosecutors have in recent years opened parallel inquiries into major infrastructure contracts, from the Salerno–Reggio Calabria motorway works to rail and metro projects in several regions, pressing anti-mafia and anti-corruption authorities to tighten controls on subcontracting chains.

For RFI and the contracting authorities, the immediate operational question is whether the arrests trigger contractual or administrative measures — suspension of implicated firms, commissioner appointments, or contract reassignments — that could affect construction timelines on the corridor. The Naples–Bari upgrade is scheduled for phased completion in the second half of the decade, with full journey times between the two cities targeted at under three hours.

Il Sole 24 ORE's report indicates the investigation covers both the corrupt exchange mechanism and the labour irregularities as interlocking elements of the same criminal conduct, with the panettone-concealed payments illustrating the informal channels through which money allegedly moved.

Further detail on the number of arrests, the identities of those detained, the value of assets seized, and the specific lots or contracts affected is expected as court documents become public. Prosecutors are likely to continue the investigation in parallel with any criminal proceedings arising from the measures already ordered.