The last pending trial in the Unión case, stemming from Operation Jable, finally has a date, seven years after the investigation ended. If there are no further postponements, it will be on April 17, 2023, when the former mayor of Arrecife, María Isabel Déniz, the former secretary, Felipe Fernández Camero, and the other 14 people accused along with them in this case will sit in the dock.
The trial will be held before the Second Section of the Provincial Court and is scheduled to take place over 9 days, concluding on May 4.
In addition to Déniz and Camero, the former head of the Technical Office, Rafael Arrocha, the historic leader of the PIL, Dimas Martín, the former secretary of the PSOE in Arrecife, Miguel Ángel Leal, and representatives of the companies Urbaser, FCC and Gamma Instal will also sit in the dock.
The partners of María Isabel Déniz and Dimas Martín, José Domingo Abreut and Elena Martín, will also answer as participants for profit, for funds that the prosecutor considers they personally benefited from, and which allegedly came from bribes.
In addition to crimes of bribery, embezzlement, forgery, prevarication, disclosure of secrets, fraud and prohibited activities by officials, the case will also try a crime of illicit association. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office considers that Dimas Martín, María Isabel Déniz, Felipe Fernández Camero and Rafael Arrocha formed an organized society to commit crimes.
In its indictment, filed at the end of 2016, the Public Prosecutor's Office maintains that Dimas Martín, "as the highest leader" of the PIL, and María Isabel Déniz, as mayor of Arrecife, "agreed" between 2001 and 2002 to "obtain funds illicitly from various private companies through the City Council". And for this, it points out that "it was necessary to have the important collaboration of two officials of the Corporation", that is, the secretary and the head of the Technical Office.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, they "selected the companies to which the contracts were going to be awarded" and demanded "gifts" in return. To "rig" the awards, among other things, the companies submitted lower bids and then, when they had already been assigned the service, upward modifications to the budget were approved, as happened with the sports pavilion awarded to FCC.
Furthermore, in the case of the cleaning contract with Urbaser, Anti-Corruption argues that the bribes continued after the award, in exchange for inflating the prices that the City Council paid to the company. The then manager in Lanzarote, Jacinto Álvarez, confessed after his arrest in this case, and his notebooks reflect different deliveries of gifts over the years, such as trips and luxury gifts, both to the mayor and to Felipe Fernández Camero.
Another of the detainees, Matías Curbelo, who was once Dimas Martín's right-hand man, also ended up confessing in the case, and provided key documentation that opened up new lines of investigation in the Unión case. Curbelo was also accused in this part, with a request for a lower sentence for his "collaboration with Justice", although he died four years ago and will not reach trial.
In addition to the Prosecutor's accusation, there is also the private accusation brought by the Arrecife City Council and the popular accusation, which further increases the penalties requested by the Public Prosecutor's Office. In the case of the prosecutor, this is what he requested for each of the defendants:
Officials
RAFAEL ARROCHA:
As head of the Arrecife Technical Office, he intervened in the awarding of contracts and in the price revisions. At the same time, he had a private company (Gamma Install) with which he carried out projects for the companies that the City Council contracted, which depended on his approval, and from which he received hundreds of thousands of euros.
Prison sentence request: 19 years and 6 months.
Disqualification request: 62 years.
Fine request: 1,124,812 euros.
Confiscation of bribes: The prosecutor requests that 518,156 euros allegedly received from Urbaser be confiscated from him, both with invoices charged to him through his company and with payments allegedly requested in cash and with gifts. Among them, an Ipaq H370 valued at 636 euros, a Seiko watch worth 830 euros, another Dupont worth 475 euros, a lighter worth 240 euros and a camera valued at 420 euros. In addition, the Prosecutor's Office demands that another 30,000 euros paid to him by FCC be confiscated.
FELIPE FERNÁNDEZ CAMERO:
As secretary of the Arrecife City Council, he was responsible for the legal advice of the Corporation and was part of the contracting board. Among other things, according to the prosecutor, Camero was responsible for "safeguarding" the documents and helped to make the 'switch' in the first offer presented by Tecmed (later absorbed by Urbaser) to the garbage collection tender, so that it could win the award. In return, he received alleged bribes from the company.
Prison sentence request: 11 years and 6 months.
Disqualification request: 18 years.
Fine request: 38,183 euros.
Confiscation of bribes: The prosecutor requests that 8,591 euros allegedly received from Urbaser, in the form of gifts, be confiscated from him. On the one hand, he points to a trip to Kenya for him and his partner, which they made together with Isabel Déniz and her husband, and which was paid for by Tecmed. To this, the Prosecutor's Office adds "various gifts" that Camero received from this company, among which a Mont Blanc pen valued at 765 euros has been documented.
Politicians
MARÍA ISABEL DÉNI
As mayor of Arrecife, she intervened in the awards to Urbaser and FCC and in the subsequent price revisions and contract extensions. In return, according to the prosecutor, she demanded large sums of money in cash and money from both companies.
Prison sentence request: 13 years.
Disqualification request: 52 years.
Fine request: 363,355 euros.
Confiscation of bribes: The prosecutor requests that 158,253 euros allegedly received from Urbaser in gifts and cash payments and 16,674 euros from Fomento Construcciones y Contratas be confiscated from her. In the case of FCC, it is documented that they paid for a trip to Marrakech that Isabel Déniz enjoyed with eight members of her family. As for Urbaser, the prosecutor maintains that they gave the mayor about 80,000 euros in cash in different payments. In addition, they paid for a trip to Kenya in which Isabel Déniz, Felipe Fernández Camero and their respective partners participated. Gifts such as a living room furniture worth 1,202 euros, a Rolex valued at 4,750 euros, a Loewe bag worth 418 euros and tickets for the Opera at the Teatro Real worth 574 euros are also recorded. To this, the prosecutor adds that Urbaser paid her a domestic employee for her house for "at least" two months.
DIMAS MARTÍN:
The prosecutor considers that he had "omnipotent powers" in his party and that he "agreed" with the mayor, who was then a member of the PIL, "to obtain funds illicitly". Specifically, the facts for which he is accused in this part are related to the Urbaser plot. In his case, the Prosecutor's Office applies the aggravating circumstance of recidivism to increase the penalties requested.
Prison sentence request: 13 years.
Disqualification request: 52 years.
Fine request: 281,244 euros.
Confiscation of bribes: The prosecutor requests that 72,000 euros that he allegedly received from Urbaser, with different payments of amounts in cash, be confiscated from him.
MATÍAS CURBELO:
He was Dimas Martín's right-hand man and, after his arrest, he acknowledged the facts and collaborated with the investigation, even providing documents. For this reason, the prosecutor reduced the penalty requested for him, considering his confession and collaboration as a very qualified mitigating factor. However, Curbelo will not reach trial, as he died four years ago.
Prison sentence request: 6 months.
Disqualification request: 2 years.
Fine request: 15,000 euros.
MIGUEL ÁNGEL LEAL:
He was the secretary of the PSOE in Arrecife, which at that time governed together with the PIL in the City Council. His wife was deputy mayor of the Consistory. In his confession, Matías Curbelo declared having given him one of the envelopes he received from Urbaser with illegal commissions.
Prison sentence request: 3 years.
Disqualification request: 10 years.
Fine request: 60,000 euros.
Confiscation of bribes: The prosecutor requests that 60,000 euros allegedly received in cash from Urbaser, in exchange for the 'rigging' of the contract award, be confiscated from him.
Urbaser Executives
SANTIAGO ALONSO:
He was a director and first proxy of Tecmed and then of Urbaser in Madrid. According to the prosecutor, he intervened directly or through the manager in Lanzarote in the payment of all illegal commissions.
Prison sentence request: 10 years and 2 months.
Disqualification request: 5 years.
Fine request: 603,600 euros.
MANUEL ANDRÉS MARTÍNEZ:
He was a director and first proxy of Tecmed and then of Urbaser in Madrid and, according to the prosecutor, he intervened directly or through the manager in Lanzarote in the payment of all illegal commissions.
Prison sentence request: 10 years and 2 months.
Disqualification request: 5 years.
Fine request: 603,600 euros.
FRANCISCO JOSÉ MARTÍNEZ LLERANDI:
He represented Tecmed in the construction works of warehouses that were awarded to this company, fraudulently, together with the garbage collection service. According to the prosecutor, he intervened in the payment of bribes to Rafael Arrocha.
Prison sentence request: 6 years and 8 months.
Disqualification request: 4 years.
Fine request: 420,606 euros.
STEPHAN JEAN ANTOINE BALVERDE:
He was in charge of preparing Tecmed's bid for the garbage collection tender. When the company was fraudulently warned that theirs was not the most advantageous, the engineer drafted a second bid that, according to the prosecutor, was illegally exchanged for the initial bid, with the participation of Arrocha and Camero.
Prison sentence request: 8 years and 2 months.
Disqualification request: 5 years.
Fine request: 603,600 euros.
JACINTO ÁLVAREZ:
He was the manager of Tecmed and then of Urbaser in Lanzarote. According to the prosecutor, after his arrest he "actively collaborated with the members of the UCO", among other things by handing over the notebooks where he had been noting for years the alleged bribes he paid on behalf of the company to public officials and civil servants, as well as the communication with his hierarchical superiors in Madrid. "This collaboration has been essential to uncover the activities carried out by this plot and the various people who participated," says the Prosecutor's Office, which has applied this circumstance as a very qualified mitigating factor when requesting the penalties.
Prison sentence request: 1 year and 9 months.
Disqualification request: 1 year and 5 months.
Fine request: 150,900 euros
FCC Executives
ENRIQUE ASTORGA GONZÁLEZ:
As a director of Fomento Construcciones y Contratas, he signed the promissory note with which the trip that Isabel Déniz made to Marrakech with her husband, her daughter, her three brothers and their partners was paid. In total, the company paid 16,674 for that trip.
Prison sentence request: 4 years.
Disqualification request: 10 years.
Fine request: 111,744 euros.
ENRIQUE JOSÉ HERNÁNDEZ MARTÍN:
He is the other FCC director who signed the promissory note with which Isabel Déniz and her family's trip to Marrakech was paid, coinciding with the awarding of the Argana sports pavilion project. This contract was awarded for 8.7 million euros, as Fomento offered a 7.7 percent discount on the base bidding budget. However, just after awarding the work to FCC, the City Council approved a modification of the project, increasing the amount by 7.2 percent. In addition, two months later they awarded him, without a public tender, "complementary works" in the pavilion worth 1.3 million euros.
Prison sentence request: 4 years.
Disqualification request: 10 years.
Fine request: 111,744 euros.
Gamma Install
MANUEL JESÚS ISIDRO SPÍNOLA:
In addition to being a Classified Activities technician for the Cabildo, Spínola was a partner of the head of the Arrecife Technical Office, Rafael Arrocha, in several companies. Through these companies, both were hired and carried out projects for companies that then depended on their approval to sign contracts with the administration. The Prosecutor's Office requests a fine and disqualification for him, but not prison sentences.
Disqualification request: 3 years
Fine request: 7,500 euros
JULIO ROMERO:
He was the third partner of Arrocha and Manuel Jesús Spínola in several companies. According to the prosecutor, through them they "captured numerous clients who contracted their services" to develop projects, "convinced" that in this way they would "surely obtain the favorable report of the Technical Office of the Arrecife City Council and the Department of Classified Activities of the Cabildo of Lanzarote". The Prosecutor's Office requests a fine and disqualification for him.
Disqualification request: 7 months.
Fine request: 7,500 euros.
DANIEL HERNÁNDEZ CARABALLO:
He intervened as a freelancer in the companies of Rafael Arrocha and Manuel Spínola and served, according to the prosecutor, to "conceal". The brief maintains that both technicians were "aware of the patent illegality of obtaining income by carrying out projects for companies" which they would then have to report on from their respective positions in the Cabildo and in the Arrecife City Council. For this reason, they created a "corporate network" and, in addition, they had other engineers, such as Daniel Hernández, who signed the projects and had accounts in their name where money from the companies was moved.
Disqualification request: 6 months.
Fine request: 7,500 euros.
RAFAEL ANTONIO CORUJO GIL:
He is the other engineer who worked in the companies of Arrocha and Spínola, signing projects and having accounts in his name that were managed by the other defendants. According to the prosecutor, both Corujo Gil and Hernández Caraballo were "aware" of the situation.
Disqualification request: 6 months.
Fine request: 7,500 euros.
Participants for profit
JOSÉ DOMINGO ABREUT: According to the prosecutor, Isabel Déniz's husband benefited from 325,484 euros obtained illegally by his wife. For this reason, although he does not consider it proven that he knew the illicit origin of the money, he requests that he be held liable for that amount.
ELENA MARTÍN: The prosecutor requests that Dimas Martín's wife be held liable as a participant for profit for the amount of 14,812 euros, from which she personally benefited and which, according to the accusation, comes from illegal commissions received by the historic leader of the PIL.
