The former director of the Sardinian Coastal Conservation Agency, Giovanni Piero Sanna , was arrested by the Guardia di Finanza of Cagliari, together with Maria Grazia Sanna Cabras and the Brazilian Tiago Geissler Queiroz, on charges of having embezzled approximately 2 million euros, from 2020 to 2024, intended for the enhancement and conservation of the island's coastal heritage .
The three are under house arrest, but five people are under investigation, charged with various counts of criminal conspiracy, embezzlement, impersonation, forgery, and self-laundering . Three million euros have also been seized as a precautionary measure.
The prosecutor's investigation was triggered by a complaint filed by the Agency's current director, Maria Elena Dessì , who was appointed by the current Todde administration and replaced Sanna, who was appointed by the Solinas administration and who, since August 2024, has been director of the Personnel Organizational Well-being Office - General Affairs of the General Directorate of Human Resources of the Department of Food Sovereignty and Horse Racing of the Ministry of Agriculture (a three-year appointment).
According to the Green Berets, who executed an order for precautionary measures in the provinces of Cagliari, Rome, and Florence issued by the Cagliari Court's investigating judge, at the request of the Cagliari prosecutor's office, the three arrested men, with the assistance of the other two suspects and the assistance of relatives and acquaintances, through 13 fictitious non-profit cultural associations represented by various front men—"totally unaware individuals," the Guardia di Finanza (Gdf) states in a statement—as well as a joint-stock company ("attributable to the same director"), allegedly siphoned off public funds for private travel and trips, the rental of a villa on the island of Capri, the purchase of movable property, clothing, and other personal items, as well as four properties, including two villas with gardens in the province of Cagliari.
The outflow of public funds was justified in the form of contributions to associations for the implementation of projects and conferences, which in reality never materialized, for the promotion of Sardinia's culture, history, and territory.
With reference to the assignment at the Ministry of Agriculture, Masaf sources specify that «the manager Giovanni Piero Sanna» has been «suspended from all roles» and that the Ministry, where Sanna had returned to service in 2024 and at the conclusion of his activity for the Sardinia Region to which the judicial provisions and contested charges refer, is «uninvolved in the matter».
(Unioneonline)