Benjamín Perdomo, councilor of the PSOE in the Cabildo de Lanzarote, intervened this Tuesday on the program Buenos días, Lanzarote of Radio Lanzaorte-Onda Cero to respond to the public accusations disseminated by the media outlet Libertad Digital. In a report published by this digital outlet, the former councilor of the Tourist Centers between 2020 and 2023 is accused of allegedly "having hidden 2.3 million from the CACT accounts".
The councilor began by pointing out that "everyone knows that this media outlet is right-wing and obviously all of us in the PSOE are facing a time when they don't stop reporting us". Perdomo referred to the accusations against the Government of Tías, led by the socialist mayor José Juan Cruz, which was accused of an alleged diversion of 275,500 euros. This complaint was dismissed by the Lanzarote Prosecutor's Office. On the other hand, also the complaint filed by the lawyer of Coalición Canaria David Montes against the national deputy and insular secretary of the PSOE of Lanzarote, María Dolores Corujo, for an alleged case of corruption.
However, he pointed out that "if anyone believes that something was done wrong during my time at the Centers, they have the right to go to the Prosecutor's Office, there is no problem whatsoever".
Thus, he highlighted that "he is calm because there are audits and there are reports". "I don't do the accounts, there is a team that does them, which is endorsed by the auditors," he continued. "The accounts were audited and endorsed, I don't have the slightest problem," he declared.
Perdomo recalled that during his time as CEO of the Tourist Centers, the COVID pandemic took place, so "there was a plenary agreement that stated that if the Cabildo's fee led to losses, you did not charge it. Then, what the auditors did, and thus endorsed in the accounts for 2019, 2020, and 2021". The fee is the payment that the CACT makes to the town councils and to the Cabildo de Lanzarote itself.
"What happened in 2023 is that the Lanzarote Tax Network settled the fee and said that it had to be paid, and what was done was to charge it again in the fee," he points out. Regarding this, he explained that when the management of the accounts was carried out, doubts arose about this situation, so they consulted the lawyers and "what they told us was not to worry because when there is a problem with the accounts, it is rectified, complementary ones are made, and there is no problem whatsoever".
The socialist counselor assured on air that he knows where this report comes from. "I have it clear as water, but I'm keeping it to myself," he indicated, preferring not to name anyone, although he pointed out that "it's not just counselor Ángel Vázquez, but someone else too."
On the other hand, Benjamín Perdomo also recalled that in 2021 a change was made to the computer system when he took over the CACT. "I had to do the accounts for '18, '19, and '20 because they weren't done and the program was parameterized incorrectly," he commented.
Furthermore, the counselor announced on the radio program that he has not received any court summons. "When you hit or try to hit someone with this kind of thing, maybe the one who hits you does it with a much greater force than you are used to receiving," he said.