The investigation into the assets of Pedro de Armas and his family has already yielded "a huge number of indications of criminality that require detailed study." This is according to prosecutor Ignacio Stampa, in an appeal that a few months ago found support from the Provincial Court to continue this investigation against the PNL-Nueva Canarias councilor in Arrecife for alleged money laundering. The criminal case began in January 2012, but had not been made public until now because it was under seal.
So far, among other things, the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) of the National Police has already detected "the existence of 112 properties, 20 vehicles and 9 boats, as well as 66 current accounts." In his writing, to which La Voz has had access through the headquarters of the Prosecutor's Office of the province of Las Palmas, the prosecutor emphasizes that "the method of acquisition" of "such assets" is "unknown" and adds that the latest police report from the UDEF describes facts that are "more than indicative of operations linked to money laundering."
Only one of the boats, "El Cabo Andrés", would have a price of "between 800,000 and 1,050,000 euros", according to the investigation. This boat became especially famous at the beginning of this legislature, when several national media echoed the journey that De Armas made with him to the island of Martinique, abandoning his position as councilor in Arrecife for half a year.
Alleged "diversion of illicit money" to Argentina
Another focus of the investigation is in the Argentine Republic, where "it has already been proven" that Pedro de Armas and his family "own at least one company and two farms" of "more than 13,000 hectares" (that is, 130 million square meters). As a result of this finding, the UDEF requested the Court that is investigating the case, Number 3 of Arrecife, a Rogatory Commission of Assistance addressed to the Judicial Authorities of the Argentine Republic, "in view of the possibility that they could have diverted to the referred country part of the capital that they could have obtained illegally."
According to the Prosecutor's Office, the objective of that rogatory commission, which was authorized by the Court, is to determine if there are "more properties, accounts or products in said country", as well as to know who sold or transferred those 13,000 hectares in Argentina to them and at what price and, "above all, where did that capital come from to acquire farms of such dimensions?"
In this regard, the prosecutor emphasizes that according to a power of attorney of Pedro de Armas' wife, the farms were acquired in 2008 and "in a preliminary analysis of the current accounts, no capital outflows abroad have been observed" in that period.
Millionaire "donations" to his children
The UDEF investigation has also detected significant donations from Pedro de Armas and his wife to their children. Specifically, during 2009 they transferred "the amount of 1,447,402 euros, the origin of which is still unknown", according to the Prosecutor's Office, which considers that this fact "by itself shows a gradual and very high transfer of assets to people of his intimate confidence."
In fact, that donation meant that the Centralized Body for the Prevention of Money Laundering (OCP) reported it to the Central Criminal Intelligence Unit (UCIC), belonging to the General Police Station of the Judicial Police. In both organizations (to which banks, notaries or property registrars, among others, are obliged to report operations that meet certain criteria provided for in laws against money laundering), these and other data of operations under suspicion that are now being investigated in this case were already recorded.
"The OCP points out that the investigated party participates in a multitude of deeds, among which are those pointed out by the UCIC, so the work must be to compare said information, which is not supplied from just anyone, nor with respect to any notarial operation," the prosecutor emphasizes.
In addition, he explains that the investigation was extended to the wife and children of Pedro de Armas because "in this type of crime and in any money laundering investigation", the "first front men are the direct relatives", "their inclusion also being necessary because donations and sales to their children have been observed, as well as the fact that Pedro de Armas, his spouse and his four children form all of the participating partners of the company Marivista", with which lucrative businesses of buying and selling plots in the Playa Blanca Partial Plan were carried out, also obtaining illegal construction licenses from the former mayor of Yaiza, José Francisco Reyes, with whom De Armas shared a party, personal ties and businesses.
Operations of 260,000 euros in one day
To all these elements are added other data provided by banking entities, which reflect, for example, that on February 16, 2007, Pedro de Armas invested a total of 260,000 euros in four operations, "whose origin is also unknown".
According to the Prosecutor's Office, these and other data found during the investigation have caused it to be prolonged over time, due to its "magnitude and complexity." And it is that they have found "amounts of money that, in addition to requiring an explanation of their origin, have been reaffirming and increasing the existing indications of criminality", which are still being investigated pending new data, such as those arising from the rogatory commission sent to Argentina, and the preparation of the UDEF's definitive report on the assets of Pedro de Armas.
For these and other reasons, the Prosecutor's Office opposed the provisional dismissal of the case agreed last August by the current investigating judge, presenting an appeal that has been admitted by the Provincial Court. This has ordered that the investigation continue, understanding that there are indications that justify it, and has thus supported the criteria maintained by the Unit against Crime and Organized Crime that initiated the investigation, the Prosecutor's Office and the other two judges who, since the case was opened, have passed through the Court of Instruction Number 3 of Arrecife, which has undergone three changes of ownership in this time.
Now, the investigation will continue its course, although with the report presented last August by the UDEF, as an advance of what has been investigated so far, the prosecutor points out that "the indications of criminality existing with respect to the investigated parties, particularly the main investigated party, Pedro de Armas, are patent."
And it is that the prosecutor emphasizes that "from the mechanics of the operations described in said report, the very high amounts of money of which there is evidence, the dates coinciding with the development of his public work, the intervening people, their relationship with people involved in criminal types linked to corruption, his status as a public official, the use of companies and people in his environment of maximum confidence in his public and private sphere, the contracting of a very high number of financial products, in short, the enormous increases in assets that he has benefited from, force us to carry out the present investigation until the ultimate knowledge of the origin of said funds."
