he Legal Office of the Government of Andalusia It depends organically on the Ministry of Health, the Presidency and Situations of Emergency, but unlike the Public Prosecutor’s Office led by Pedro Sánchez – who said in an interview, “Who does the Public Prosecutor’s Office depend on?” – Lawyers who represent … The interests of Andalusians in cases and lawsuits, and they do not implement orders or instructions from the executive authority. They operate with complete independence, in this case, from the Andalusian PP government.
So much so that in a separate part of the total corruption case called the IDEA Special Endorsement, the three lawyers prosecuting the accusation on behalf of the Autonomous Administration asked investigating judge José Ignacio Villaplana to acquit eleven former senior officials of previous PSOE governments. Former Minister of Innovation Francisco Vallejoamong others, is accused of embezzling more than 1.2 million euros of public money in connection with grants of aid to Sociedad Cooperativa Andaluza Frutera Exportadora de Sevilla (Cofrutex).
The Andalusian government informed ABC about this He does not participate in this decision Which, however, is assumed. On November 13, the regional jurists sent a letter to Court of First Instance No. 6 in Seville, which this newspaper reviewed, in which they were acquitted of all criminal responsibility on the pretext that it was not proven that the defendants, including the entire IDEA board of directors, “They were aware of any illegality.”
The standards of the Council’s lawyers contradict those of the judge who concluded this investigation, but they also contradict the position of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, the lawyer from IDEA – which also represents an affected public body – and the popular action of the Andalusian People’s Party itself, the party that governs Andalusia, which requested the imposition of four-year prison sentences on the accused. 14 former political leaders.
The Public Prosecution, with the exception of the Commission, requests imprisonment and absolute deprivation of capacity Alleged embezzlement and evasion crimes. They are one step away from sitting on the bench for granting “arbitrary and unfair” aid in 2008 and doing nothing to get it back when the company goes bankrupt. IDEA assisted Cofrutex with public funds, which signed a bank loan that was never returned, guaranteed by the board of directors. The guarantee ended up being withheld and the money was lost.
The position of the Commission’s lawyers who signed the letter also contradicts the opinion of the Andalusian government itself. The Ministry of the Presidency of the Republic defends the independence of the judiciary of the law firm, whose regulations grant it “independence in these decisions,” despite its insistence that “Not everyone supports or participates.”. And this is one of them. They also recall that “this is not the first time” that there have been “significant inconsistencies” in the legal office’s actions in the ERE case and other briefs.
One of these lawyers from the Council also opposed Judge Villaplana’s proposal to file a preliminary ruling before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to reopen major cases with dozens of accused former senior Socialist officials that had been archived due to a formal defect related to the system of procedural deadlines, which would, for the judge, violate EU law.
17 former senior officials are on trial before a judge
In the Cofrutex article, the Council accuses six of the 17 investigated by the judge: the first IDEA Directors General Jacinto Canetti and Antonio Valverde; Former Director of Strategic Investments in the aforementioned independent entity, Francisco Alfaro Julioas well as the President, Director and Financial Advisor of the aided company, AJIV, LAVF and MJQM, respectively.
In the indictment, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office requests the opening of an oral trial against 17 people He demands 98 years in prison for 14 political positions That the act or omission contributed to the “ultimate loss of public funds.” The Council’s legal office acknowledges the “damage” caused to the millionaire by the public service, because “he did not recover any amount that was fully implemented.” but, This accusation exonerates the entire IDEA Board of Directors On November 24, 2008, it approved a guarantee of 1.18 million euros “without completing any procedure” and “without any motive,” as specified by the other parties. Two days later, the Ministry of Labor gave him 440,000 euros from the irregular ERE fund.
As a result, regional lawyers joined the defenses in favor of bringing the case against them Francisco Vallejo And his former deputy Jesus Maria Rodriguez Romanas Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively, both of whom were convicted in the ERE case. They also excluded IDEA members from the case: Isabel de Haro Arambere, Ángel Garrijo, Teresa Saez Carrascosa, María Teresa Saez Ponte, Juan C. Soriano, Francisco Triguero and Francisco del Rio Muñoz. The latter was founder and head of the Legal Office of the Council for thirty years during the Socialist Workers Party period (1982-2012) and was awarded the Cross of Honor of the Order of San Raymundo de Penafort by the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in 2010.
The legal office “save” the entire IDEA Board
As stated in the indictment, the Commission’s jurists concluded that “the members of the Board of Directors do not meet the requirements necessary to assess the crime of evasion and/or embezzlement, which are intentional crimes.” Neither the procedures nor the evidence undertaken prove that the Board of Directors and therefore its members, They were aware of any irregularities in their actions». “They decided in any case based on the documents and information provided by the Director General (of IDEA), that they constitute a minimum file,” so “The existence of fraud was never proven, even ultimately.», they specify. They added that they authorized Canetti to “determine the conditions for granting the guarantee,” which caused the board of directors to lose 1.2 million euros.
In addition, these attorneys exonerate from all criminal liability IDEA’s legal representative, JAAQ – who was also exonerated by this public agency’s attorneys – and the former director of IDEA. Hello Martinez. For the only former senior officials they accuse, they are seeking sentences of between 6 and 7 years in prison for the crime of embezzlement, and between 15 and 17 years of absolute disqualification also for evasion.
By order dated July 23, the judge prosecuted fourteen former political leaders and the three directors of the party’s agri-food company. Loss of €1,266,241.65 to IDEA Thus, to the general treasury of the Council: the entire amount of the guarantee (1.18 million euros) granted to the company and another 86,241.65 euros in commissions that the Andalusians also had to pay.