The Court that instructs the "Unión" case hosted this Wednesday a preliminary hearing on the piece that gave rise to this cause, for the attempted bribery of Luis Lleó to Carlos Espino to unblock the urbanization of the Costa Roja plot, using Fernando Becerra as an intermediary. And before Judge Silvia Muñoz, Becerra himself ratified the confession he made in his day and showed his agreement with the penalty requested for him by the Prosecutor's Office, of a year and a half in prison and 10 of disqualification, plus a fine of 200,000 euros.
This is stated in the order issued after that hearing by the investigating judge, which has been made public through the press office of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands. In that order, Judge Silvia Muñoz orders the opening of oral trial and, in addition, demands that Lleó deposit a bail of 1,330,000 euros within 48 hours "to ensure pecuniary liabilities". If he does not deposit it, his assets will be seized. The judge applies the same measure to the other defendant, Fernando Becerra, who is asked for a bail of 266,000 euros.
For his part, Luis Lleó's defense remained on the same line this Wednesday, trying to have the evidence against him declared null and void and that the case does not go to trial. Among other things, Lleó argues that the telephone taps were "illegal" and that the chain of custody of the CDs was not respected. However, Fernando Becerra not only does not object to the evidence but has confessed to the acts imputed to him.
After listening to his testimony this Wednesday, the Prosecutor's Office, represented in this hearing through prosecutor Ignacio Stampa, ratified the indictment that he filed more than a year ago. In that writing, signed by the delegated prosecutor of Environment and Urbanism of the province of Las Palmas, Javier Ródenas, six years in prison are requested for Lleó, a fine of one million euros and 10 years of disqualification for employment or public office.
In the case of Becerra, who recognizes that he acted as an intermediary in that attempted bribery, the penalty request was reduced by considering his confession and "collaboration with Justice" as mitigating circumstances, not only in this piece but in others that were investigated in the "Unión" case.
Pending another preliminary hearing
Now, before setting the date of the trial, which will be held with a popular jury, another preliminary hearing must still be held in the Provincial Court. This body, which has already rejected several appeals from defendants in the "Unión" case, will be the one to rule on the validity of the evidence in the case, and which Lleó's defense requests to be invalidated.
It should be remembered that the judicial orders for entry and search of Luis Lleó's offices and house were annulled, because by mistake the text did not conform to what was being ordered, but the Prosecutor's Office already counted on this and did not include any evidence obtained in those searches in its indictment, formulated in May 2013.
Apart from the conversations recorded by the UCO and other evidence obtained during the investigation, this piece has the key testimony of one of the defendants, Fernando Becerra, and the complaint of the former socialist councilor Carlos Espino, to whom Lleó offered the alleged bribe to allow the urban development of the Costa Roja plot, at the entrance of Playa Blanca.
Offer of 600,000 euros
In the indictment that was ratified this Wednesday, the prosecutor reviews the chronology of Costa Roja, which begins in 2006, with the granting of a license by José Francisco Reyes to build "a macro-urbanization of 1,012 homes, 220 commercial premises and 2,559 parking spaces". At that time, the Cabildo filed an administrative litigation appeal in the courts, which stopped the development of that project, and Councilor Carlos Espino filed a criminal complaint for these events. His complaint gave rise to another case that is being followed in the Courts of Arrecife.
To try to stop these judicial proceedings and unblock the construction of Costa Roja, Luis Lleó "designed a criminal strategy to win the will" of Espino, according to the prosecutor, knowing that at that time, "after the president" (Manuela Armas), he "was the person who had the greatest decision-making capacity in the government group of the Cabildo in matters of land management" and who "set the political and strategic direction" on that issue.
Thus, using Fernando Becerra as an intermediary, Lleó offered up to three alleged bribes to Espino, who denounced the events and allowed the UCO to record the conversations they had for months. In the first, they offered him an alleged commission of 400,000 euros, to be divided between Espino and Fernando Becerra, in exchange for the Cabildo withdrawing from the litigation it had initiated against the Costa Roja license granted by Reyes.
In the second, the offer rose to 600,000 euros, and they asked him to include the Costa Roja land as buildable land in the Special Territorial Plan for Island Tourism Planning that was being developed at that time.
Regularize illegal hotels
Finally, Becerra conveyed a final proposal to Espino, which included not only the development of Costa Roja, but also the regularization of the illegal hotels of other developers. In this regard, the prosecutor points out that Lleó made Espino aware that there was "an agreement with the owners of illegal hotels to buy pieces of land in Costa Roja", which in turn "they would make available to the Cabildo free of charge", as alleged compensation for the legalization of their establishments. That is, "with the exception of the part of the land corresponding to the golf course and a residential area planned by Luis Lleó", which would have to be authorized.
In exchange, they promised Espino not only the 600,000 euros to be divided with Fernando Becerra, but also "a percentage of the price of each of the sales that Luis Lleó made to the owners of the illegal hotels in Yaiza".
In his indictment, the Prosecutor's Office also refers to the explanations that Fernando Becerra gave to Espino about how he could collect the bribe without leaving a trace. To do this, among other things, he proposed "opening an account in a tax haven, such as Switzerland, to leave no trace of the delivery of the money".
