Overview
- Grazia Maria Starace resigned her post as regional tourism assessor and handed delegations to President Antonio Decaro so she can focus on clearing her name and protecting her children.
- Prosecutors in Foggia opened an inquiry after an administrative inspection and a complaint, alleging Starace and Vieste mayor Giuseppe Nobiletti pressured a tourism operator to pay alimony by threatening removal of a municipal beach concession.
- The mayor of Vieste and Vincenzo Ragno, head of the town technical office, have also been placed under investigation in the same probe and have publicly said the inquiry began from local administrative checks.
- The disputed municipal concession was later reissued after the operator corrected irregularities uncovered in the town review, and Starace faces a separate proceeding for alleged building violations tied to a property near Vieste.
- The case highlights how Italian law treats concussione as coercion by a public official and raises political strain in a tourism-dependent area as the judiciary and regional institutions handle the next steps.