ROME — Luigi Di Maio, leader of Italy's 5Star Movement, kicked up a fuss about a foreign investor pulling the plug on a factory in Naples — but documents seen by POLITICO show his ministry had known about the move for two months.

In late May, U.S. home appliances manufacturer Whirlpool announced it would no longer run a production plant employing 420 people in Naples, a 5Stars stronghold.

Earlier this week, Di Maio — who is economic development minister and one of two deputy prime ministers — expressed outrage at Whirlpool's plans and said he would scrap public incentives for the company.

“The Italian government won't let big multinationals mock Italy," Di Maio said in a Facebook Live broadcast on Tuesday. "Whirlpool has not been faithful to the agreements so I will sign a decree to revoke all the public incentives given to the company so far."

However, on Tuesday Carlo Calenda — Di Maio's predecessor in the economic development ministry and an incoming MEP for the center-left Democratic Party — told a television show that Di Maio had known of Whirlpool's intentions since early April.

The Whirlpool letter mentioned a potential investor that could be a good candidate to take over the production site and save the jobs.

"He waited until after the EU election, and he's now making all this indecorous drama out of something he's known for two months, which his staff has worked on since April," Calenda said.

On Thursday, Di Maio denied knowing about Whirlpool's intentions. Asked by a radio host whether he knew before the May 31 announcement that the company was going to close its Naples factory, he replied: "No, absolutely not."

A letter sent from Whirlpool to Di Maio in early April — and seen by POLITICO — shows the company informed the minister it was no longer able to uphold its October 2018 commitment to invest €17 million in the Naples factory, where it produces high-end washing machines, "given the business segment was experiencing a major drop in demand."

The Whirlpool letter mentioned a potential investor that could be a good candidate to take over the production site and save the jobs.

Speaking on the radio show Thursday, Di Maio said "everyone knew Whirlpool was facing a crisis in Naples, but not that they wanted to leave the city."

According to two people involved in the discussions, the minister — who is from close to Naples — was aware the Americans were planning to leave and had tasked his staff with exploring alternatives to avoid losing all 420 jobs.

Ministry officials then asked Invitalia — a Rome-based, publicly-owned agency for economic development — to meet the potential new investor identified by Whirlpool (which can't be named to avoid affecting ongoing negotiations) and asked for a technical assessment of the proposed investment plan, according to four people who took part in the discussions.

The first meeting, held at the ministry's headquarters in Rome on April 19, was attended by Di Maio's deputy head of Cabinet, Giorgio Sorial, Invitalia officials and representatives of the potential new investor.

Spokespeople for Di Maio and Sorial did not reply to requests for comment.

Two more meetings were held in May, according to three attendees and a note summarizing the exchanges seen by POLITICO. Records also show two of the three meetings were held at the ministry while the third took place at Invitalia headquarters.

Stopping multinationals from moving production and punishing those that take public money and then move was one of the 5Stars' main campaign promises in last year's general election. In October last year, the Italian government and Whirlpool signed an agreement outlining a three-year investment plan which envisaged €250 million in investment by the U.S. corporation, moving some production back from Poland, and a commitment to maintain current job levels.

At the time Di Maio celebrated his "victory" and said it was a positive sign for the country.

"The accusations are still to be proven" — Claudio Durigon

A spokesperson for Whirlpool declined to comment on the company's private exchanges with the ministry

The agreement also gave Di Maio the responsibility for getting Whirlpool and labor unions together to discuss updates on the implementation of the plan within six months of the signing. No meeting was called within that timeframe and the minister did not reply to an April 20 request from the unions to schedule a meeting.

A spokesperson for Whirlpool declined to comment on the company's private exchanges with the ministry, but said the company was looking forward to a meeting with the minister and the unions scheduled for June 21.

"We are currently working on the solution for the Naples site that will be in line with the guidelines shared by the ministry and the objective of guaranteeing industrial continuity and maximum employment levels," said the spokesperson.

The opposition, meanwhile, has asked Di Maio to clarify his position in parliament.

"If Di Maio knew since April about the closure of the Whirlpool plant in Napoli it would be extremely serious. Has he hidden the information up until the European election?" tweeted Mara Carfagna, a Forza Italia MP who joined other lawmakers in calling on Di Maio to address parliament.

On Thursday, Labor Undersecretary Claudio Durigon from the far-right League, Italy's other ruling party, attended parliamentary question time in Di Maio's place.

He said the minister had not withheld information. "The accusations are still to be proven, we don't have any feedback from the ministerial departments to support [Calenda's claims]," he said.

Valeria Valente, a Democratic Party MP from Naples, said: "Di Maio is escaping parliament, his silence speaks 1,000 words and with Durigon's attendance in his place, the League becomes co-responsible for covering up his lies."