The Supreme Court ruling known this Tuesday represents the first final conviction for the still auditor of Arrecife, Carlos Sáenz, who must now leave his position in the City Council. The ruling, in addition to 4 and a half years in prison for continued crimes of embezzlement and prevarication, imposes an 8-year disqualification. And in principle, the procedure to execute that part of the sentence could be resolved more quickly.
To do this, the court that issued the first instance ruling, that is, the Sixth Section of the Provincial Court, must send a copy of the ruling to the City Council, so that the disqualification penalty is executed and he is removed from his position. However, until this Tuesday that notification had not reached the City Council.
Regarding entry into prison, it must also be ordered by the Provincial Court, although there are no established deadlines for this. First, the Court must formally receive the cassation sentence. In that ruling, the Supreme Court orders that the case be returned to this court of first instance, so that it can initiate the appropriate legal procedures. The ruling is dated November 25, although it was not until this Tuesday, January 10, that it was made public, through the press office of the Supreme Court itself.
Once the procedure begins, both Sáenz and the rest of those convicted in this part of the Unión case could ask for the execution of the sentence to be delayed, to try to delay their entry into prison, citing the filing of some extraordinary appeal or even the eventual request for a pardon from the Council of Ministers. However, the court is the one who decides whether or not to accept that request and may also order that compliance with the ruling be initiated.
Six pending trials
This conviction for the payment of 250,000 euros to Proselan for work not carried out has been the first for the auditor of Arrecife, but it may not be the last, since he still has at least six trials pending. Five of them correspond to the Montecarlo case, where Carlos Sáenz is accused in all the parts - including the one that was opened in Fuerteventura - and the other to another part of the Unión case.
In total, the Prosecutor's Office is asking for 55 years in prison for Sáenz in those six trials, in which he could also have to return hundreds of thousands of euros allegedly embezzled. Only in the three parts of Montecarlo related to the Arrecife City Council, the accusation document from the Public Prosecutor's Office demands that he return 1.2 million euros to the City Council.
For those three parts, the prosecutor is asking for 27 and a half years in prison for the still auditor of Arrecife. To this are added the 12 years that he is asking for for the San Bartolomé part and the 8 years that they are claiming in Fuerteventura, where he also served as auditor in the City Council of La Oliva.
In addition, Carlos Sáenz must still be tried in another part of the Unión case, number 12, focused on the alleged collection of illegal commissions and the embezzlement of public funds in the Arrecife City Council between 2007 and 2009, when Operation Unión broke out. In that part, Sáenz faces another request for 7 and a half years in prison.
He returned to the City Council after spending 10 months in pre-trial detention
It should be remembered that Carlos Sáenz already spent 10 months in pre-trial detention, after being arrested in the Montecarlo case. After leaving prison in March 2013, the auditor requested to recover his position, but immediately began to present medical leave that he renewed weekly, so he remained away from the City Council.
However, on August 8 of that same year, just the day after the new auditor that the City Council had hired to replace him attended his first Plenary Session, Carlos Sáenz returned to the City Council to recover his position. Since then, he has continued to serve as auditor, although that situation will come to an end when this first final sentence is executed.
