A dramatic turn of events has taken place in the trial regarding the alleged €80,000 bribe , which, according to the Prosecutor's Office, was received by former Regional President and current MP Ugo Cappellacci (FI). Prosecutors Emanuele Secci and Diana Lecca have declared the statute of limitations on the crime of embezzlement—the only remaining charge after the corruption charge expired —for all defendants, except for former regional councilor Alessandra Zedda, for whom acquittal on the merits has been requested.
This, in a nutshell, is the outcome of the closing arguments of the two magistrates who conducted the investigation that led to Cappellacci, Zedda, as well as Tonino Tilocca and Roberto Bonanni being brought to trial . The hearing was then adjourned for the oral arguments of defense attorneys Guido Manca Bitti (Cappellacci and Tilocca), Patrizio Rovelli (Bonanni), and Agostinangelo Marras (Zedda), and then for the reading of the sentence. The corruption charges against MP Ugo Cappellacci (FI) and accountant Piero Sanna Randaccio had previously been declared time-barred. The embezzlement charges against the four defendants remained. The alleged bribe payer—which the defense vehemently denies—was allegedly paid by Flavio Mallus, the director of Fm Fabbricazioni Metalliche, who pleaded guilty to four and a half years in prison (also for bankruptcy).
Following the bribe—according to the prosecution—the entrepreneur was saved from bankruptcy with €750,000 in public money linked to the Ingenium Fund, thanks to the efforts of Cappellacci and former councilor Alessandra Zedda (accused of embezzlement). But today, following Mallus' testimony and the former councilor's defense briefs, prosecutors Secci and Lecca themselves asked the judges to acquit the former councilor, who was present in court alongside her defense attorney .
