The judge of the Court of First Instance Number 2 of Arrecife has given a new impetus to the "Reyes case", issuing more than a dozen summons for the coming weeks and charging two new people: the lawyer Juana Fernández de las Heras and the head of the Technical Office of the Yaiza City Council, Antonio Lorenzo. Both will have to testify as defendants for a new crime that has been added to this case, that of illicit association.
From the beginning, the "Reyes case" investigates the existence of an alleged organized plot for the massive granting of illegal licenses in Playa Blanca, with the alleged connivance of politicians, businessmen and technicians. Now, the new judge instructing the case, Ana Manella, has taken a further step in this line, accepting the request of the popular accusation.
For the moment, eight people are charged with this new crime, which implies the existence of an organized network to commit crimes. Six of them were already on the list of defendants and had even had to testify, but now they will have to return to the Arrecife Courts to answer for the new accusations.
New indictment for six people
The list of those charged with illicit association includes the former mayor of Yaiza, José Francisco Reyes (who was already charged with bribery, embezzlement of public funds, money laundering and prevarication), the secretary of the City Council, Vicente Bartolomé Fuentes (so far charged with prevarication and embezzlement) and the lawyer Felipe Fernández Camero. The latter was also charged with embezzlement and prevarication, and the prosecutor considers him the "inducer of the allegedly criminal conduct" of the former mayor of Yaiza.
Now, Fernández Camero's daughter, Juana Fernández de las Heras, is also being charged in the case. Her name has appeared on several occasions in the investigation, since both the Prosecutor's Office and the popular accusation maintain that, like her father, the lawyer represented both the Yaiza City Council and the urban developers who received licenses later declared illegal by the Justice.
The list of those charged with this crime is completed with Ignacio Díaz de Aguilar, so far investigated for bribery and urban prevarication, and by the businessmen Juan Francisco Rosa and Francisco Armas. The latter two, owners of the Marina Rubicón Sports Marina, were already charged with bribery, but now they will also have to answer for the alleged crime of illicit association.
The third partner of Marina Rubicón (where José Francisco Reyes docked his yacht without paying for years), Rafael Lasso, will also have to testify again, although he continues to be charged only with the alleged crime of bribery.
Other statements
In addition, the judge has issued three other new summons. One of them, for another technician from the Yaiza City Council, Alfredo Morales, who joined the list of defendants a few months ago. Morales, who will have to testify next Monday, November 7, is charged with an alleged crime of prevarication. Among other things, Alfredo Morales was the one who issued the favorable report for the granting of the license for the Marina Rubicón sports marina, whose legality is also being investigated within the framework of the "Reyes case".
On the same day that Morales will testify, Antonio Lorenzo will, after joining the list of defendants in the case. In addition, on November 30, the owners of the Marina Rubicón sports marina are summoned, and on December 14, Vicente Bartolomé Fuentes, Ignacio Díaz de Aguilar and Felipe Fernández Camero must testify.
The new round of statements will close on December 16, when José Francisco Reyes, Juana Fernández de las Heras and José Rafael Mesa Ferrer are summoned. The latter was already charged with an alleged crime of bribery, and now he will have to answer for another of money laundering.
According to Reyes' statement in court, his daughter Beatriz (also charged) lived in a house owned by Rafael Mesa without paying rent. When asked by the judge and the prosecutor, the former mayor explained that the house is in a complex made by Rafael Mesa, and that he was the one who granted him the license to build them.
In his statement, Reyes said that he himself "made the arrangements" with Mesa so that he would "leave" that house to his daughter and that "it was going to be for a short time", but that "it has been longer than expected". Regarding his relationship with Rafael Mesa, he defined him as "an acquaintance" and stated that he has a relationship of "distant kinship" with the Mesa Ferrer brothers.
Rafael Mesa is the brother of Benito Mesa Ferrer, also charged in the case with an alleged crime of money laundering, related to the assets of the family of the former mayor of Yaiza. According to Reyes' statement in court after his arrest in the framework of this case, Benito Mesa was the one who processed the papers for him to create the company Sea Sun Lanzarote.
This company, according to the investigation, could have been a cover to launder the allegedly illegal money that the former mayor of Yaiza received in exchange for the granting of illegal licenses. In the name of the company, which was owned by Reyes' son (also arrested and charged in this case), was "El Pachi", the boat that the family docked in the Marina Rubicón sports marina without paying for the mooring.
