Four years in prison, ten years of disqualification, a fine of 6,000 euros and the return of the 24,000 euros that he allegedly received in bribes. That is what the Prosecutor's Office is asking for the former councilor of the Cabildo Sergio Machín, who was arrested in November 2014 in a case against corruption at the national level, which is now about to go to trial. Machín, who had previously been a councilor of the PIL, was at the time of his arrest spokesman for the Canarian Coalition in the Island Corporation, and after being released on charges he continued to hold that position until the end of the term.
The arrest of Sergio Machín occurred by order of the judge of Seville Mercedes Ayala, but the case then went to the National Court, which is the one that has already ordered the opening of oral proceedings within this piece of the Fitonovo case, which will put Sergio Machín and eight other people in the dock. La Voz has now had access to both that order and the indictment of the Public Prosecutor's Office, which asks that the former councilor be convicted of a continuing crime of bribery, for receiving bribes in exchange for the awarding of Cabildo works.
In addition, the Central Court of Instruction Number 5 of the National Court has imposed a bail of 32,000 euros on the former Lanzarote councilor, to ensure the amounts for which he would have to answer both in terms of fine and return of the "profits of the crime" in case of conviction.
The company charged the Cabildo almost 700,000 euros in two years
In total, Fitonovo invoiced the Cabildo 693,763 euros between 2004 and 2006, with Sergio Machín being Minister of Public Works, although the order of the Court points out that only two contracting files have been located. One was signed in 2004 for 175,150 euros and corresponded to "Gardening and cleaning service of public domain areas and roads of the Island Council of Lanzarote", and the other was signed the following year for the same concept, although with a budget that amounted in this case to 236,880 euros.
In that same period, the Prosecutor's Office and the Court of Instruction maintain that Machín received "at least 24,000 euros" in bribes from Fitonovo in two different installments, the first for 6,000 euros and the second for 18,000. In fact, the order to open oral proceedings dedicates more than two pages only to list the evidence that exists to prove these payments, including emails, B accounting of the company located by the UCO and also the confession of another of the accused, Adolfo José de la Torre García, who was attorney of Fitonovo in the Canary Islands area and acknowledged having delivered two envelopes with money to the Lanzarote councilor.
In that confession, De la Torre related that after eating together in a restaurant in Lanzarote, Sergio Machín asked him "if he could talk to his company to give him some money for the party", to which he replied that "he had to consult it". Afterwards, "after making the consultation and obtaining the approval of the company, and once he received the money, he met with him another day and left it in the car, in the glove compartment", the order of the National Court states.
In addition, the attorney of Fitonovo explained that later there was a second request and again the company agreed to pay the bribe. According to his account, this time the money was given to him by another of the company's directors accused in the case, Rafael González Palomo, and then he gave it to Machín "in a restaurant in Famara". "It is important to note that the terms of this statement confirm all the extremes that appear in the "B" accounting of Fitonovo SL in terms of the recipient of the commissions, amounts delivered and procedure for payment", the order emphasizes.
The papers that brought the UCO back to Lanzarote
Precisely that "B accounting" of the company was what allowed to reach Sergio Machín when this case was being investigated, which began in Seville. When intercepting both this parallel accounting and different emails, the UCO agents found other ramifications that also led them back to Lanzarote, where this unit of the Civil Guard was already in charge of the investigation of the Union case.
"Revolutionary tax D. Sergio Machín, Minister of Public Works", said in an email the attorney in the Canary Islands of Fitonovo to another of the accused, Ángel Macedo Gajete, to explain the destination of the 6,000 euros that he withdrew from the company's accounts. According to the summary, Macedo was "responsible for the management of the B box" of Fitonovo and had previously written to De la Torre to identify the person to whom he made the delivery.
In addition, there is evidence of that cash withdrawal of 6,000 euros by Adolfo De la Torre García, as well as several internal documents of the company to justify the exit of that money, including two invoices with the concept "sales Sergio Machín (Lanzarote work)" and a cash receipt for 6,000 euros with the concept of "extraordinary payment to the Cabildo maintenance contract".
As for the other 18,000 euros, De la Torre signed an internal receipt in the company for the collection of that money, which states the annotation "Pending Adolfo tells us something more about this payment". Afterwards, he sent an email in which he explained that it was a "gift" for the Minister of Public Works of the Cabildo. "As in the previous case, the accounting annotation is corroborated by the documents that accompany the accounting data and by the email of the Fitonovo commercial that explains the background of the delivery", the order states.
The files had "all the legal blessings", according to San Ginés
After the arrest of his party colleague and spokesman of his group in 2014, the president of the Cabildo, Pedro San Ginés, appeared in a Plenary to defend the awards to Fitonovo, made a few years before the start of his term. To do this, he presented a legal report and also made María Eugenia Torres appear. "It is reflected that the administrative procedure of each of the contracting files complied with all the requirements established in the applicable legislation on public procurement", said San Ginés then. "They were made in accordance with the technical and legal reports and with all the relevant legal blessings", he added in statements to the media.
However, the order to open oral proceedings of the National Court concludes that Fitonovo had "a network of contacts with corrupt officials" who "facilitated the contracting", both in this case of Lanzarote and in other parts of the Canary Islands and Spain, also having a parallel accounting with "false invoicing" through which they paid the bribes. And all this "causing serious damage to the public interest, since they perverted numerous contracting procedures to the detriment of public funds and the public interest in an adequate provision of services, in addition to serious damage to the socio-economic order, by harming companies that legally intend to participate in public procurement, but that have no possibility of being awarded because they are at a clear disadvantage due to the corrupt practices of the plot".
When the events occurred Sergio Machín was still a member of the PIL, but later he left the party along with most of his public positions, with María Isabel Déniz at the head, to later integrate all in the Canarian Coalition. With CC he was Minister of Waste, but San Ginés withdrew the powers when millionaire contracts linked to Zonzamas were going to be awarded, which the president decided to assume personally. This caused a crisis that made Machín remain for several months outside the government group, leaving San Ginés in minority.
"Some of us are more calm since you are not Minister of Waste", Pedro San Ginés told Sergio Machín in a Plenary. However, after that crisis was closed with his appointment as spokesman for the CC group in the Cabildo and San Ginés kept him in office after his arrest, even defending the awards that had been made to Fitonovo.
