The Prosecutor's Office opposed the indictment of the treasurer of the Arrecife City Council, Antonio Cabrera, in the "Montecarlo" case. This is stated in the judge's order in which she agrees to his indictment, and this has also been confirmed to La Voz by the chief prosecutor of the province of Las Palmas, Guillermo García Panasco. In addition, García Panasco has also announced that the Public Prosecutor's Office will file an appeal against that order, since it sees "no type of evidence of a crime" in the treasurer's actions.
"In this specific case, we are clear that there is no evidence to justify his indictment, and the same cannot be said of other people," the chief prosecutor of the province told La Voz, who stressed that until Wednesday morning, they had not even been "officially notified" of this order. "Our intention is to appeal it," he said.
"We must protect their fundamental rights"
"We are here to protect the rights and guarantees of the procedure, and the fundamental rights of all. Also of people who, in our opinion, are being indicted without justified reason," he explained.
Operation Montecarlo began as a result of a complaint filed with the Court by the Prosecutor's Office itself, after an investigation that began thanks to an anonymous complaint from a worker of the Arrecife City Council. And within the case, the treasurer played an important role as a witness. In fact, Antonio Cabrera prepared an internal report, even before the investigation began, warning of alleged irregularities in the payment of invoices.
Differences with San Bartolomé
Unlike what happens with the treasurer of the San Bartolomé City Council, who was indicted at the request of the Prosecutor's Office in the Montecarlo case, the Public Prosecutor's Office understands that there is no evidence of a crime in the actions of Antonio Cabrera.
In the case of San Bartolomé, what is being investigated are the payments to the businessman José Montesinos as responsible for the collection of taxes in the municipality. That is, for an area directly linked to the Treasury.
However, in Arrecife, the invoices under suspicion correspond to other departments. Therefore, the Prosecutor's Office understands that the role of the treasurer in this case was not to supervise these payments, since the authorization of the invoices was in the hands of the technicians of the corresponding area, the politician who signed them or, where appropriate, the mayor and, ultimately, the auditor, since they were the ones who gave the approval for them to be paid.
RELATED NEWS
[The judge in the Montecarlo case decides to indict the treasurer of the Arrecife City Council->74502]
