The Prosecutor's Office claims from Tovar and Sande more than 74,500 euros for unjustified subsidies in Arrecife

The Third Chamber for Trial of the Court of Auditors has accepted for processing the lawsuit filed by the Prosecutor's Office, in which it requests that former municipal officials of Arrecife, María Jesús Tovar (Partido Popular), Victoria Eugenia Sande (PSOE), and Eva de Anta (PSOE) reimburse 88,836 euros to the public coffers of the City Council.

This request is made in a case that investigates the granting of subsidies and possible deficiencies in their justification during the year 2020, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a document dated May 6, the Prosecutor's Office stated that the three were allegedly "directly and jointly liable" for the "damage" caused to public funds. The Public Prosecutor's Office recalls that they all held municipal positions where they were responsible for granting subsidies and verifying their destination, as well as for the statute of limitations for claiming reimbursement.

Given the investigation opened by the Court of Auditors, the Arrecife City Council has stated that it will not take legal action in this case and has requested the dismissal of the proceedings. However, the Prosecutor's Office has filed a claim for reimbursement for an amount of 78,529.31 euros, plus 10,307.05 euros in interest.

The largest reimbursement, to be borne by María Jesús Tovar and Eugenia Sande

The Prosecutor's Office requests that the largest portion of the reimbursement be borne by Victoria Eugenia Sande and María Jesús Tovar, former councilor for Social Welfare (2019-2023) and current vice-president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote. Thus, it requests that both return a total of 66,442.03 euros to the municipal coffers "directly and jointly" as "accountable parties" for the money. This would mean each would have to return 33,221 euros.

At the same time, the Public Prosecutor's Office also requests that Eva de Anta, Victoria Eugenia Sande, and María Jesús Tovar jointly return another 12,087 euros. This would amount to 4,029 euros more each.

This reimbursement request also asks that the defendants be ordered to pay late payment interest and court costs.