In addition to sentencing nine defendants who sat on the bench, the ruling in the Yate case annuls "all" the licenses investigated in this case, including that of the Marina Rubicón marina, which, unlike the rest, had not been annulled in administrative court. In addition, the ruling of the Provincial Court considers it proven that the three owners of this marina, Juan Francisco Rosa, Rafael Lasso and Francisco Armas, gave a bribe to the former mayor in the form of a gift for the granting of this illegal permit.
In the proven facts of the ruling, the account made by the Prosecutor's Office and confessed by Reyes is expressly included, who admitted that he received a "gift" from the owners of the port valued at 60,000 euros, by enjoying a free mooring for five years in those facilities.
"Said gift is due to the granting of several urban planning licenses granted prior to the knowledge of their frontal collision with the urban planning regulations applicable by the accused José Francisco Reyes to the administrators of the entity Puerto Deportivo Rubicón SA, among which the license itself granted for the construction of said marina by decree dated March 20, 2003 stands out, as well as other licenses annulled by a final judgment of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands for its frontal contravention of the urban regulations applicable to the construction of hotel establishments", the ruling considers proven.
A hotel authorized in 3 days and a port in 6
Thus, it indicates that this "gift" did not only respond to the Marina Rubicón license, but also to others granted by Reyes to the owners of the port. Two of them, that of the Princesa Yaiza hotel and that of the Son Bou hotel, were granted to Juan Francisco Rosa, in one of the cases "only three days later" after he requested it. The third, which allowed the construction of the Hotel Meliá Volcán, had been requested by Francisco Armas. As for the marina, the one who requested it was Rafael Lasso. And he did so when the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands ordered the works to be stopped, which had begun without permission. Only six days later, as the ruling underlines, Reyes granted him that illegal license.
In its ruling, as revealed by the investigation of this case, the Court points out that the General Plan of Yaiza that was in force did not contemplate a marina, that the declaration of the Insular General System was not made, nor therefore the environmental impact study was processed, and that "there was no land management instrument" that gave it "coverage", despite which that permit was granted.
Only for this crime of improper bribery, Reyes has been sentenced to 6 months in prison and a fine of 4,292 euros. To this is added the same penalty for two other improper bribes, and 4 and a half years in prison for the rest of the crimes, which include urban planning prevarication, embezzlement and money laundering. In all cases, the penalty has been significantly reduced due to undue delays in the investigation, as well as due to the mitigating circumstances of late collaboration with Justice and reparation of the damage, having deposited some 300,000 euros before the trial, to respond to his fines and those of his wife and three children.
As for the businessmen who gave that gift, at the time they were charged in the case, but finally the charges against them were dropped. And it is that the Penal Code that was in force at that time did not allow the crime to be classified, since it was an improper bribe after the granting of the license, and not before. For these cases, penalties were contemplated for the one who receives the gift, but not for the one who gives it.
Two other gifts and 300,000 euros in cash in bribes
In addition to this gift from the owners of Marina Rubicón, Reyes has been convicted of two others. One of them was received from the company Construcciones Isla de Lobos SL, which between 1996 and 1998 was awarded multiple works in the municipality of Yaiza. Meanwhile, this same company carried out works in the private home of José Francisco Reyes and his wife, for an amount of more than 60,000 euros, which "were never paid by the accused or claimed by the company".
The other proven gift comes from José Rafael Mesa Ferrer, who sat on the bench, but for a crime of money laundering for which he has been acquitted. In this case, through the company Gestión y Desarrollo Janubio SA, Mesa Ferrer gave a house to one of Reyes' daughters, who lived there at least between August 2005 and September 2009 "without paying any rent". "Said gift is due to the granting of several licenses in his capacity as mayor", the Prosecutor's Office stated, which listed the permits granted by Reyes to this company. Among them is the license for the execution of 190 bungalows in Montaña Roja, as well as the license for the construction of the Dream Gran Castillo hotel, also declared illegal by the courts.
In addition, these bribes in the form of 'gifts' are added to another 300,000 euros that Reyes admitted to having received in cash, in exchange for granting dozens of illegal licenses in Playa Blanca.
