Attempted extortion in Ottana: Mayor Franco Saba, a candidate for re-election in June, is under house arrest.
The mayor is accused of having "attempted to force the hiring of a majority councilor as supervisor of the new energy storage plant."In the early hours of the morning, the State Police, coordinated by the Nuoro Public Prosecutor's Office, executed an order placing the mayor of Ottana, Franco Saba, under house arrest, and banning Raffaele Del Maio, an energy entrepreneur, from residing in the same municipality.
The two are being investigated for attempted extortion. The restraining order was issued by the preliminary investigations judge of the Nuoro Court, Mauro Pusceddu, following the preliminary hearing, introduced by the recent Nordio reform. The hearing took place on May 11th. The investigation is being coordinated by Deputy Prosecutor Andrea Jacopo Ghironi. The investigation, conducted by investigators from the Nuoro DIGOS (Special Operations Unit), was launched in 2024 as part of an information and investigative effort focused on disputes regarding renewable energy plants in the Nuoro area.
According to the prosecution, Saba and Del Maio allegedly abused their respective roles by inducing and attempting to coerce the executives of a major electricity supplier into hiring a majority councilor of the Ottana Municipality. The position would have involved supervising the new BESS battery energy storage facility , recently built in the Ottana industrial area by the same energy company.
During the operation, numerous searches were carried out in Ottana, Nuoro, and the province of Bergamo. Investigators, with the support of the Bergamo DIGOS (Special Operations Unit) and the Guardia di Finanza's Computer Forensics and Data Analysis specialists, seized smartphones and several electronic devices deemed of investigative interest.
Franco Saba is running as the head of the only list in the running for the elections on June 7th and 8th, with his only opponent being the quorum, at 40%.