One of those arrested in Operation Enredadera, in which former Cabildo councilor Sergio Machín was also arrested, confessed to having given bribes to the politician from Lanzarote in exchange for the awarding of contracts to the company Fitonovo and even gave details of how the payments were made. One of them was made in a car, leaving the envelope "in the glove compartment." The other, in a Famara restaurant.
"It is important to highlight that the terms of this statement confirm all the extremes that appear in Fitonovo's B accounting regarding the recipient of the commissions, amounts delivered and procedure for payment," states the order of the Central Court of Instruction Number 5 of the National Court, which on July 20 put an end to the investigation of this case and initiated the process to bring 13 defendants to trial.
Thus, with that B accounting, the confession and the documents and emails intercepted by the UCO during the investigation, the judge concludes that there are "solid indications that accredit" that Machín received from this company "at least 24,000 euros" as a "revolutionary tax" for the awarding of road margin conservation contracts between 2004 and 2006, for which the company charged almost 700,000 euros from the Cabildo of Lanzarote.
The first request for money, "after a meal in a restaurant"
The confession of this manager, who was a Fitonovo sales representative for the Canary Islands area, occurred last April, when he returned to testify in court. And in it he explained that Sergio Machín, "after a meal in a restaurant, told him if he could talk to his company to give him some money for the party." At that time, Machín belonged to the Party of Independents of Lanzarote, although when he was arrested for these events years later, he was already a member of the Canarian Coalition, being at that time the spokesperson for the CC group in the Cabildo.
Always according to the statement of this manager, after Sergio Machín's request he made a "consultation" to the company and when he obtained approval and received the money, "he met with him another day and left it in the car, in the glove compartment." Later, a "second request" arrived, "also with the excuse of the party." And in this case the delivery was made in a Famara restaurant.
Regarding the amount of these commissions, the first was 6,000 euros, according to the investigating judge. "The payment of this amount is confirmed by the chain of emails and two payment and fax transmission documents that indicate that the commission was a claim by Sergio Machín," the order states, which among other things refers to two emails. In the first, a company executive asks the sales representative in the Canary Islands to "identify who the payment has been made to." In the second, this sales representative responds: "Revolutionary tax D. Sergio Machín. Councilor of Public Works".
A "gift" of 18,000 euros "for the councilor"
Regarding the second payment, it would have been 18,000 euros. "As in the previous case, the accounting annotation is corroborated by the documents that accompany the accounting data and by the email from the Fitonovo sales representative who explains the background of the delivery," the judge adds. In that email, the sales representative again reported by email the destination he had given to the 18,000 euros, indicating that it was as a "gift" for the Councilor of Public Works of the Cabildo of Lanzarote.
The case that will take Sergio Machín to the dock, charged with a crime of bribery, began in Andalusia, in charge of Judge Mercedes Alaya, and had several ramifications. Later, the National Court assumed the investigation and has already closed this piece, which affects a total of 13 people throughout Spain, among whom is the politician from Lanzarote.
In total, according to the UCO, Fitonovo invoiced the Cabildo 693,763 euros between 2004 and 2006, with Machín being the Councilor of Public Works. The awards under suspicion were made with negotiated procedures without publicity, that is, inviting three companies to present their offers, and Sergio Machín participated in two of the contracting tables. In one of the awards, only Fitonovo submitted an offer.
