The First Section of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas will try on March 18 three defendants for appropriating 141 rustic farms in Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura.
According to the prosecution's indictment, the defendants J.O.M., S.R.M.M., and J.M.C.F., along with the deceased G.A.G.G.R. and R.M.M., allegedly agreed to search for rustic farms on the three islands and "make illegal changes to their cadastral ownership registrations."
The Public Prosecutor's Office assures that S.R.M.M. and the two deceased allegedly "searched, among their acquaintances, for data on real estate," located them, and found their ownership. Meanwhile, it accuses J.M.C.F. of using the agency he owned to transmit the information he had access to.
Once the farms were located, the Ministry emphasizes that S.R.M.M. and the two deceased supposedly "illegally fabricated private documentation of sales contracts," which they then presented to the Cadastre of Las Palmas, where another of the defendants, J.O.M., worked as an official.
The Prosecutor's Office emphasizes that with "the alteration of ownership" of the farms, the defendants allegedly obtained economic benefits that "were introduced into the market through the purchase of vehicles, luxury items, or real estate." All of this, "giving an appearance of legality to the money obtained illegally."
Change of Owners in Cadastre
For the Public Prosecutor's Office, these alleged crimes could be carried out by the "joint activity of all the defendants," so that J.O.M. allegedly altered the cadastral ownership of the farms using his position as a public official in the Cadastre. From there, he is accused of accepting sales documents, "knowing the mendacity of their content" and "bypassing procedural rules," such as informing the affected persons of the change of ownership and carrying out "express processing."
According to the Prosecutor's Office's writing, of the 141 modified files, in the vast majority (137) the interested parties were not heard, preventing them from presenting allegations; in almost all (139) the cadastral alteration was not notified either, preventing them from appealing; in most (131) the entry of the documents was not sealed; in none of them the neighboring plots were notified of this modification. Also, most of the files were processed between 24 hours and 16 days, "without time for allegations."
The Ministry points out that the defendant J.M.C.F., as the owner of an agency in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, used the information he had access to in order to "give shape to the mendacious information that was provided" in the documents allegedly delivered by the deceased R.M.M.
Finally, it qualifies these facts as a continued crime of falsehood in a public document, another of fraud, a third crime of money laundering, and a fourth of belonging to a criminal group.
To J.O.M., an official of the Cadastre, the Prosecutor's Office accuses him of a continued crime of falsification in a public document and points to S.R.M.M. as a necessary cooperator and J.M.C.F. as an accomplice.
Meanwhile, it exposes S.R.M.M. as responsible for a crime of fraud; the three defendants of a crime of money laundering and belonging to a criminal group.
Prison sentences
The Public Prosecutor's Office asks for J.O.M. a total of 13 years in prison for the crimes of falsification in a public document with prevarication, money laundering, and belonging to a criminal group. In addition to two fines of 8,640 euros and 4,000 euros, special disqualification for employment, public office, and/or working as a Cadastre official for six years, disqualification for the exercise of his profession for a period of three years, and disqualification for the right to passive suffrage during the time of the sentence.
For the defendant S.R.M.M. it asks for a total of 17 years in prison for the crimes of continued falsification in a public document with prevarication, fraud, money laundering, and belonging to a criminal group. With fines worth 12,640 euros, special disqualification for employment or public office for six years, disqualification to exercise his profession for three years, and disqualification for the right to passive suffrage during the time of the sentence. In addition, he must compensate E.R.R. with 19,00 euros.
For the last defendant, J.M.C.F. asks for nine years and eleven months in prison for the continued crime of falsification in a public document and belonging to a criminal organization and money laundering. In addition, two fines of 6,148 euros for money laundering and special disqualification for employment or public office for one year and eleven months.
Finally, the Prosecutor's Office asks the defendants to pay the court costs and that the changes of owners be declared null so that they adapt to the registry reality of the cadastre.
