The former mayor of Yaiza, José Francisco Reyes, could face a prison sentence of between 20 and 30 years. That is at least what the Public Prosecutor's Office will request, in light of the crimes imputed to the former mayor in Operation Yate, whose investigation has already been completed.
In its latest ruling, the Prosecutor's Office points out that there are "clear indications" that José Francisco Reyes, during his time as Mayor of Yaiza, incurred in crimes of urban planning prevarication, active and passive bribery, money laundering, activities and negotiations prohibited to officials, embezzlement of public funds and falsification of commercial documents.
Most of these crimes are linked to urban corruption, with the granting of dozens of illegal licenses in Playa Blanca in exchange for alleged bribes, but also with other allegedly illegal activities committed from the Town Hall. These include the diversion of funds to accounts of his party, the PNL, and also to companies of which he was a partner, together with other leaders of the Nationalist Party of Lanzarote.
The surveyor Pablo Carrasco, out of the case
Together with José Francisco Reyes, eleven other people will finally be in the dock, as the case has finally been left with twelve defendants. The last to leave the list has been the Town Hall surveyor, Pablo Carrasco, whom the Prosecutor's Office has not included in its latest written conclusions.
Those who are still charged are the secretary of Yaiza, Vicente Bartolomé Fuentes, the head of the Technical Office, Antonio Lorenzo, and another municipal surveyor, Alfredo Morales. The three are accused of alleged crimes of urban planning prevarication, which can be punished with sentences of one and a half to four years in prison.
In the case of the surveyor Alfredo Morales, his indictment is linked to the report he issued to grant the license to the Marina Rubicón Sports Port, while that of Antonio Lorenzo is linked to his intervention in the file that allowed the approval of the Playa Blanca Partial Plan, which has already been declared illegal by the Courts.
As for Vicente Bartolomé Fuentes, he faces charges for three crimes. On the one hand, the Prosecutor's Office sees indications of urban planning prevarication in the reports he made in those two files (the partial plan and the port), and also charges him with another crime of embezzlement of public funds, for his role as comptroller of the Town Hall. Thus, in addition to the possible prison sentences for two crimes of prevarication, the Public Prosecutor's Office will also ask for him between six months and six years in prison, depending on the amount of the allegedly embezzled amounts. In any case, adding the three crimes, Vicente Bartolomé Fuentes could face one of the highest penalties requested by the Prosecutor's Office in this case, after that of Reyes.
Relatives and "front men"
Among the rest of the defendants who will be in the dock are the closest relatives of José Francisco Reyes. That is, his wife, Antonia Rafaela Torres, and three of his children (María Beatriz, María Noelia and José Francisco Abel). All of them are accused of alleged crimes of money laundering, and the Prosecutor's Office will ask for them between three and six years in prison.
According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, all of them helped Reyes to "cover up the ownership of his illicitly obtained assets", so that he could "enjoy them without risk". To this end, they acted "as front men to reintroduce into the financial market and legal economic circuits the profits from the illicit activities carried out by the mayor of Yaiza".
The same crime of money laundering is imputed to the other four defendants: José Rafael Mesa Ferrer, Manuel Benito Mesa Ferrer, Antonio Marcelo Machín and Simeón Camacho. The first two, as tax advisors, allegedly helped the mayor to launder his accounts through a "shell company", Sea Sun Lanzarote S.L., in which they were in charge of the accounting. According to the Prosecutor's Office, both had "full knowledge of the purpose pursued by the defendant Reyes Rodríguez, to conceal the ownership of the funds and assets that had been illegally acquired as well as those that continued to be acquired later, to allow their enjoyment by said defendant through their insertion in the legal economic circuit".
The other company allegedly used to launder money was Acuimar Cachazo, in which one of Reyes' daughters appeared as the owner, together with Antonio Marcelo Machín and Simeón Camacho, both belonging to the "inner circle of friendship" of José Francisco Reyes. According to the Prosecutor's Office, the two accepted to "lend their most effective contribution to conceal that patrimony" of Reyes, "since they knew the criminal origin of the funds they were handling, being perfectly aware of what were the sources of lawful income of the defendant, as well as its amount".
The investigation, which began in 2006, but had to pursue events committed since the 90s, managed to locate one million euros obtained by the former mayor in an allegedly illegal manner. And for this, it was necessary to track payments made in cash, purchases without accounting entries, as well as movements of bank credits and other real estate transactions. Therefore, due to the complexity of the investigation, the Prosecutor's Office considers that this million euros could be only a part of the money obtained by the alleged crimes of corruption of the former southern mayor.
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[The State Attorney General confirms that it has already completed the investigation of the Reyes case and will direct its accusation against twelve people->74776]
