The former secretary of the Yaiza City Council, Vicente Bartolomé Fuentes, reported in favor of granting the license to the Marina Rubicón marina and approving the Playa Blanca Partial Plan despite being "aware" of its illegality. This has been acknowledged by himself in the document he has presented to the Second Section of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas, to try to reach an agreement with the Public Prosecutor's Office and the popular accusation, in view of the trial of the Yate case, which is scheduled to begin on March 20.
In the case of the Playa Blanca Plan, it has already been declared illegal by the courts in the contentious-administrative channel. Regarding the marina, owned by Juan Francisco Rosa, Rafael Lasso and Francisco Armas, the Prosecutor's Office requests that the license be annulled now, when the sentence of this criminal case is handed down. As the Public Prosecutor's Office pointed out and the former secretary now acknowledges, there was no land planning instrument that covered the construction of a marina in that area. Neither the General Plan of Yaiza that was in force at that time contemplated a port there, nor had it been declared an Insular General System, as required by the Lanzarote Planning Plan, nor had the mandatory environmental impact study been carried out for this purpose.
However, Bartolomé Fuentes issued a "procedural" report within the file to grant that license. And he did so "knowing its manifest illegality", as the Prosecutor's Office pointed out and the accused now admits. "He deliberately omitted essential aspects that made it impossible to approve the construction license", stated the indictment, with which the former secretary has decided to agree.
License "in 6 days" and with the works practically finished
With that report, according to the Prosecutor's Office, Vicente Bartolomé Fuentes "effectively collaborated in the approval by the mayor of the granting of the license on March 20, 2003". This approval occurred only six days after the owners of the port submitted the application and when the works had been underway for two and a half years and were practically completed. In fact, as highlighted by the investigation of this case, Marina Rubicón began to be built without even having a municipal license or any permit that supported this construction.
It was after the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands ordered the work to be stopped that the promoters decided to request permission from the City Council, which was granted to them within "six days", despite the fact that the work had no type of coverage in the planning that was in force.
Now, Bartolomé Fuentes acknowledges that he was aware of the illegality of that port and that of the Playa Blanca Partial Plan, on which he also issued a favorable "procedural" report. In addition, he shows his "willingness to collaborate with the Administration of Justice" and expresses his "regret" for the events that he has now decided to acknowledge, more than a decade after this judicial investigation began and more than three years after he was removed from his position for another criminal case, in which he was convicted of a continued crime against land planning in the granting of other illegal licenses, in that case for 9 chalets between Las Breñas and Femés.
He acknowledges that he acted with "culpable and inexcusable negligence"
In addition to admitting that he issued favorable reports despite knowing "the non-conformity with the applicable urban planning regulations", thus confessing crimes against land planning, the former secretary also "expressly acknowledges" having committed continued crimes of administrative prevarication, embezzlement of public funds and documentary falsification. "He acknowledges having acted with culpable and inexcusable negligence during the exercise of his function", states the document presented by his lawyer, when referring to this last crime.
In this way, he confirms everything related by the Public Prosecutor's Office, both with respect to the plot of the massive granting of illegal licenses, and for his role as auditor, authorizing payments to José Francisco Reyes that did not correspond to him. In one of the sections of the Prosecutor's Office's indictment, now confirmed by the former secretary, the allowances that Reyes received above what corresponded to him and the invoices and trips that he charged to the Yaiza City Council are detailed, despite the fact that they were personal expenses and "strictly private activities".
Only in allowances, Reyes received "at least 2,734.43 euros" more than what corresponded to him, according to the report prepared by the Udyco. In addition, the City Council paid him airline tickets and restaurant bills that had nothing to do with the exercise of his position. Even, the City Council came to pay for flights to Reyes' personal tax advisor, accused along with him in this case of money laundering.
He charged allowances for private trips
Among the trips paid for by the City Council, there is one to Barcelona, coinciding with the purchase of the El Pachi boat, whose acquisition he "negotiated" at a nautical fair that was held in the Catalan capital. On the occasion of attending that fair, Reyes ordered, "with the approval" of the secretary-auditor, that the City Council pay him 721.20 euros in allowances. Even, although one of the days he spent in Seville, he also charged the allowance corresponding to that day. In addition, the City Council also paid for the flights, for an amount of 528 euros, including the trip to the Andalusian city, which had "no relation to said nautical fair".
To these, the police report and the indictment add many other trips and expenses, such as another trip to Barcelona, coinciding with the signing of the deposit contract for the purchase of a penthouse in the name of his daughter; as well as trips to Gran Canaria and Tenerife, which are not justified to be related to his activity as mayor. However, Reyes charged allowances for them and charged the City Council for the cost of flights and hotels, including a bill at the Hotel Sheraton Mencey.
To do so, he needed to have the collaboration of Vicente Bartolomé Fuentes, since they justified the payment of the allowances with concepts such as "trip to Barcelona for municipal affairs". Now, the former secretary-auditor acknowledges that he contributed to embezzling that public money and that he acted "with culpable and inexcusable negligence during the exercise of his function". In addition, like the rest of the accused who have decided to confess and present conformity documents, Bartolomé Fuentes also undertakes to ratify this confession in court and later during the oral trial, "if it were necessary".