The businessman from Lanzarote and rally driver Óliver Rodríguez has just added his 13th conviction, this time for a crime of theft of goods of historical value and another against land management, in competition with one more of damage against heritage historical. In this new sentence, dated March 15 by the Criminal Court Number 3 of Arrecife, he is sentenced to 4 years in prison and a fine of 9,000 euros for both crimes.
In addition, Óliver Rodríguez must pay compensation of 1 million euros to the owners of the property where he caused the damage, "La Casa de Los Carrasco", and 11,440 euros more for the objects he stole from inside. He has also been disqualified for 3 years and 4 months from exercising any profession related to construction and will have to pay court costs, including those of the private prosecution, which has been exercised by the Cabildo of Lanzarote.
In her ruling, against which an appeal is still possible, Judge Aitziber Oleaga considers proven the facts that prosecutor Ignacio Stampa recounted in his indictment. These events occurred between the end of 2004 and March 2008, when Óliver Rodríguez "was in possession" of the farm where this protected building is located, located on Caldereta street in San Bartolomé. The businessman had signed a purchase option with the Carrasco family, who finally recovered the property after that contract was annulled. However, by then he had caused "damage" to this protected building worth 1 million euros and had also "looted" various historical objects from the house, some of which were later recovered by Seprona.
"Implausible" and "inexplicable" defense
In her ruling, the judge describes as "implausible" and "inexplicable" the arguments presented at trial by Óliver Rodríguez, who even denied that he was the sole administrator of the company through which the events were carried out, Construcciones y Promociones Lanzaroveli S.L. In addition, the judge emphasizes that in his statement, the accused was "sparing in his answers, sometimes evasive and, for the most part, vague and confusing, in addition to the fact that on many occasions he responded to things different from those he was questioned about."
Regarding the damage caused to the building, Rodríguez assured that it was caused by Tropical Storm Delta. "It is undeniable that the accused is lying," the ruling states, which recalls that various witnesses, including Heritage workers from San Bartolomé and Local Police officers, testified that the works were carried out almost a year before that storm occurred.
"There is no doubt that the accused carried out all these actions, which left the Carrasco house in a deplorable and unrecoverable state from a historical-architectural point of view," the judge points out, who considers it proven that, among other things, the accused eliminated centuries-old plant specimens, demolished a perimeter gallery of semicircular arches, walls, ceilings and cisterns, as well as two exterior cisterns and another eight outbuildings such as stables, rooms, corrals, garage and henhouse, and renovated the paving located at the entrance and lifted ashlars and blocks of carved basalt stone.
Likewise, he "proceeded to carry out new works consisting of the construction of new walls, which further detract from the value of the property." And all this, "with serious disregard for the territorial order and the historical and cultural heritage of the municipality and its owners", and lacking permits to carry out works that neither had a license nor could have obtained it, since it is rustic land of protection and also the property is included in the Municipal Architectural Catalog, which grants it comprehensive protection.
A "plunder" to obtain an "illegal enrichment"
Regarding the crime of theft, the ruling also considers it proven that Óliver Rodríguez, "with the intention of obtaining an illicit patrimonial enrichment and without the consent of the Carrasco Cabrera family, owner of the property, proceeded to plunder basalt stone ashlars and all the construction material obtained after the corresponding demolitions, whose economic value is peritally incalculable."
Part of that material was later recovered by Seprona officials on another farm in San Bartolomé, belonging to a friend of the accused. On this point, Óliver Rodríguez acknowledged that he had moved that material there, but claimed that he did so because "he feared that those centuries-old stones would be stolen." However, the judge considers this explanation "implausible."
"It is somewhat absurd to extract all those rocks from their natural place for fear of their possible theft and, instead, they are deposited in a nearby plot, piled up and more easily accessible. Logically, stones that have remained attached to the earth continuously for a century are safer in this way than uprooted and piled up in piles in an easily accessible plot," the ruling states.
In addition, he recalls that other furniture and belongings also disappeared from inside the house, peritally valued at the sum of 11,440 euros, and recalls that one of them, the painting known as "La Virgen del Carmelo", was found "in the possession of the accused." And to this he adds that the accused has already been convicted twice for crimes of theft, so he considers this explanation "plausible", and not the one provided by the accused, who even suggested that the complaint filed by the owners for this robbery could be false.
Another indictment for trying to hide his assets
Although Óliver Rodríguez's defense requested his acquittal, in his conclusions he also requested that, in the event of a conviction, a reduction in the sentence be applied by applying the "very qualified" mitigating circumstance of undue delays, since the case began in 2007 and did not go to trial until March 14, 2016. In this regard, as the Prosecutor's Office maintained, the ruling indicates that part of the delay in the trial has been due "to the actions of the accused himself as an accused." On the one hand, delaying his appearances when he was summoned as an accused and even the trial itself, alleging medical problems and even two changes of lawyer. On the other hand, because the "complexity" of the case was also joined by another front, also due to Óliver Rodríguez's own attitude.
On this point, the judge recalls that during the investigation, other judicial proceedings had to be opened, in which Óliver Rodríguez and his wife were charged with an alleged crime of concealment of assets, that is, for having tried to hide their assets. And it is that a company of Rodríguez went to be in the name of his wife in the middle of this procedure, when a piece of civil responsibility had been opened, to ensure the money that the accused would have to pay in case of conviction in this trial.
For all this, the ruling applies the delays as a mitigating factor to reduce the sentence, but only "of a simple nature", which implies a smaller reduction than the one intended by the defense. In addition, the judge explains that she has imposed a sentence close to the maximum provided by law in this case, "in attention to the circumstances of the author", given that "he has no more and no less than 12 firm convictions for crimes of different nature, among which crimes against property (fraud, theft, damage) against road safety, coercion, falsehoods and frustration of an execution, among others, stand out."
This, according to the ruling, "denotes an absolute lack of respect for society and legal norms, powerfully calling attention to the fact that a native person from the island of Lanzarote does not have the slightest respect for historical assets and properties", having incurred in facts that he considers "of extreme gravity in attention to the damages caused in the Carrasco house and its surroundings, assets that have been in a deplorable state and that are unrecoverable."
