José Francisco Reyes will not be able to recover one of his vehicles for the time being, a Saab that he acquired in 2004 for 34,500 euros, since the judge has decided to reject his defense's request and maintain the embargo on the car, which was established on October 3, 2009, after the arrest of Reyes, his wife and three of his children.
The boat that is in his son's name, José Francisco Abel Reyes, will also remain embargoed, although in this case, the judge has adopted a new decision to prevent its deterioration. Thus, the Court orders the Marina Rubicón marina, where the yacht is docked, to take it out of the water and keep it on land. The deterioration that the boat could suffer was one of the reasons given by Reyes' son to request that this measure be suspended.
In addition, his defense also tried to argue that one of the requirements that allow an embargo to be suspended was met: that the asset is dedicated to a productive activity. However, both the prosecutor in his report and the judge consider that neither Reyes' car nor the boat are really used to obtain income.
The vehicle, because José Francisco Reyes does not even have a recognized job and, according to his own statement in the Courts, his income comes from [the sale of potatoes and other products from his farm, in what he himself defined as "underground economy"->34311], and they also have two other cars at home, belonging to his son and his wife, also without recognized work, on which the embargo has been lifted.
As for the boat, although in theory it is intended for rent through the company Sea Sun Lanzarote, it seems that it was mainly used for private purposes, such as participation in fishing championships.
Allegedly illicit obtaining
The investigation maintains that both these assets and others owned by the family were obtained in an allegedly illicit manner, with money that the former mayor would have allegedly received in exchange for granting a multitude of licenses that contravened administrative and urban regulations. Among the crimes that Reyes is accused of is money laundering, of which his wife and children are also accused, for their alleged participation in giving the appearance of a lawful origin to that money. Among other things, through purchases such as that of the boat "El Pachi", for which 127,000 euros were paid in cash, in several installments.
In addition, at least until the case broke out, the boat did not pay for mooring in the Marina Rubicón port, which led its three owners, Juan Francisco Rosa, Rafael Lasso and Francisco Armas, to respond as defendants for bribery, for the alleged relationship that this "benefit" to the Reyes family could have with obtaining illegal hotel licenses.
Cars paid in cash
Regarding the Saab, José Francisco Reyes bought it for 34,500 euros, paying 11,118.72 euros in cash and financing the rest, although in the same purchase he disbursed another 12,000 euros in cash, when also acquiring a Mercedes. However, in his accounts there is no bank entry or money withdrawals that could be related to that acquisition.
Thus, these two properties would be added to the long list of purchases and expenses made by the family for hundreds of thousands of euros, with money of unknown origin, according to the report prepared by the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (until a few years ago known as Udyco), which tracked the assets of Reyes and his environment.
After the arrest of the former mayor of Yaiza and four members of his family, the judge of the Court of Instruction Number 2 of Arrecife ordered the embargo of four cars of the family, the boat "El Pachi" and several farms that were in the name of Reyes, his wife and one of his daughters. The embargo was later lifted on some of the vehicles, but other properties remain immobilized by court order.
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[The Court investigates who visited Reyes in prison to find out if they pressured him to withdraw his confession->44159]
[Benito Mesa Ferrer joins the list of defendants in the "Reyes case" for alleged money laundering->44185]
