The Court of Cassation, overturning the previous verdicts, acquitted Mario and Alberto Ragnedda, the latter mayor of Arzachena until 2017, of tax fraud.
The sentence concerns an alleged fraud involving two companies of the Capichera wine group of excellence. The Ragnedda brothers, according to the original complaint, were accused of having purchased the grapes produced by one of their companies with "inflated" costs, from 500 to 600 euros per quintal.
There is talk of alleged tax violations for the years 2011 and 2012. According to the Tempio Prosecutor's Office, the costs of the grapes were similar to those paid by companies that produce champagne and higher than the price of all the best Italian grapes. The lawyers Gerolamo and Filippo Orecchioni, defenders of the two brothers, managed to dismantle the thesis of the Gallura prosecutor's office and the conclusions of the judges of first instance and appeal.
The words of the lawyers: «There is a theorem of the Revenue Agency that is completely unfounded, the price of the grapes was right». The Tempio Court had also ordered the confiscation of the sums of money, around 200 thousand euros, which according to the prosecutor had been subtracted from the tax authorities.
