The Black Pearl It is Captain Jack Sparrow’s ship in the film saga Pirates of the Caribbean and, in a territory far from the sea like Castilla y León, it is the name of an administrative building that has been the protagonist of one of the most notorious urban corruption plots in the autonomy, where the PP has been hegemonic since 1987. The Board bought the property, in Arroyo de la Encomienda, a municipality attached to Valladolid, 20 years ago, and the operation entailed extra costs of 20 million euros. In 2013, a judge opened an investigation into the misuse of public funds, and a decade later, after an eventful journey, the judicial ship has reached its first port: the oral hearing. Since Monday of last week, the Provincial Court has been trying to clarify the goings-on between senior officials of the Ministry of Economy and businessmen related to the PP.
The trial begins almost two years after being suspended due to lack of documentation and despite the defense of the accused demanding, in vain, to delay it again. The most notable are the former Vice Ministers of Economy Rafael Delgado and Begoña Hernández, for whom the Prosecutor’s Office demands 11 years in prison. Former regional president Juan Vicente Herrera (2001-2019) will also testify, as a witness, since he was warned of the excessive cost and did not react.
The previous issues were addressed last Monday and were resolved in one day, and not in the planned three, giving way to an extensive schedule of appearances, until May 8. The court has summoned 12 defendants, five of whom belonged to the Ministry of Economy between 2005 and 2012, under the presidency of Herrera, as well as seven businessmen with personal and commercial ties to members of the PP. Total sentences are demanded from all of them that vary from the 70 years requested by the Prosecutor’s Office to the 221 years demanded by the PSOE, presented as a private prosecution. The court will host 26 sessions to hear the 90 witnesses, including experts and former officials of the Board or public companies. The defendants are charged with the alleged crimes of prevarication, influence peddling, bribery, disclosure and violation of secrets, fraud against the Administration and embezzlement of public funds. The most notorious case of the Black Pearl is joined by similar tactics in some plots of a practically abandoned business park in the town of Portillo.
The investigation focused on the acquisition of the land and the building in Arroyo by Gesturcal, a public company that paid 60.5 million euros despite an initial appraisal of 50 million. In addition, it paid almost 10 million to the developer Urban Proyecta PM3 SL for aspects that the company itself should have assumed. Also involved is the Unifica architecture studio, author of the reform of the PP’s national headquarters on Génova Street in Madrid and whose people were convicted of a tax crime by the National Court. The Prosecutor’s Office accuses former deputy councilors Delgado and Hernández of these maneuvers and, in addition to the 11 years in prison, requests a fine of 16 million euros. The relationships of these politicians with the businessmen jump from the professional to the personal, since Delgado bought two homes in Santander from the businessman Alberto Esgueva, also among the dozen defendants, and from his wife he bought a house in an urbanization near Valladolid. .
During the investigation phase, the strategy of these two people involved and the other political figures investigated consisted of singling out Tomás Villanueva. The former Minister of Economy, a man of great importance in the Junta de Castilla y León, died in 2017 when he was already involved in corruption investigations both for the Black Pearl and for the so-called wind plot, which is still studying the irregularities in the granting of licenses in windmill parks. The death of Villanueva, always present in the lies and political circles of Castilla y León due to his power and influence, was attributed to “natural causes” when he was 64 years old and shortly after the Treasury investigated his 83 bank accounts.
The defendants endorse the deceased Villanueva, a person of the utmost confidence of Juan Vicente Herrera, the responsibility of the allegedly illicit efforts. Since 1995, Villanueva was vice president and advisor successively of Industry, Education and Economy, a position that he left in 2015 when the Black Pearl case. Herrera must appear at the Provincial Court of Valladolid as a witness. Gesturcal advisor Pablo Trillo warned him of the “insane” price that would entail locating the headquarters of the now defunct Development Agency on those lands and in that building. The property is currently dedicated to Business Solutions, also from the Economics wing of the Board.
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The PP of the current regional president, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, in power since 2019, distances itself by saying that this case of possible corruption corresponds to a previous stage, although the PSOE denounced a few days ago that the regional government has awarded 15 million euros of European funds to the company of Francisco Arnedo, also investigated in this plot of irregularities and cost overruns. The Prosecutor’s Office is asking for four years in prison and 10 years of disqualification for embezzlement, bribery, influence peddling, corruption and revelation of secrets.
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