Los exalcaldes de Parla y Serranillos del Valle confiesan corrupción en caso Púnica

Out of the 36 accused in the corruption case Púnica for the irregular awarding of municipal contracts to the company Cofely between 2012 and 2014, thirteen have confessed to the crimes in court, including the former mayors of the Madrid towns of Parla José María Fraile (PSOE) and Serranillos del Valle Antonio Sánchez (UDMA).

The National Court has started the trial for this case with preliminary issues on Monday, where the accused face prison sentences requested by the Prosecutor’s Office and accusations of up to 20 years for their involvement in various municipalities, most of them governed by the PP, in securing contracts for the energy services company in exchange for kickbacks and favors.

The defense teams have reported that thirteen of the accused have reached agreements with the prosecutor to admit the facts in exchange for reduced sentences, and have requested that, in addition to the mitigating circumstance of confession and cooperation with the justice system, they should also be granted the benefits of undue delays due to the lengthy duration of the proceedings and restitution for the damages by returning various amounts of money.

Specifically, the lawyer for the former socialist mayor of Parla, José María Fraile, has stated that he deposited nearly half a million euros on the 3rd of this month to fulfill his civil responsibilities.

The prosecutor has explained that during the final conclusions phase at the end of the trial, she will specify her sentencing requests for each of them based on their level of cooperation during their testimonies in court.

The defense teams of three accused have informed the court that they are still in discussions with the prosecutor to see if they will join the confession agreement to reduce their sentences, including the former mayors of the Madrid towns of Torrejón de Velasco Gonzalo Cubas and Moraleja de Enmedio Carlos Alberto Estrada, both from the PP.

There are also five other former mayors from the PP who have not admitted to the crimes they are accused of, José Carlos Boza, from Valdemoro; Agustín Juárez, from Collado-Villalba; Daniel Ortiz Espejo, from Móstoles, and Mario Utrilla, from Sevilla la Nueva, all Madrid towns, as well as José García Lobato, from Almendralejo (Badajoz).

The lawyer for the former mayor of Valdemoro, José Carlos Boza, has denounced some accused individuals’ agreements with the Prosecutor’s Office before the trial without the knowledge of the other parties, stating that these backroom deals and negotiations affect the right to defense.

Among the accused who have continued to collaborate and have reached a plea agreement based on the facts described by the Prosecutor’s Office is David Marjaliza, a repentant construction businessman and former associate of Francisco Granados, former councilor of the Community of Madrid under the PP government led by Esperanza Aguirre and also under investigation in other parts of the Púnica case.

This case is examining the actions involving David Marjaliza as a «facilitator» of public contracts for the multinational Cofely and the activities of this company, its executives and employees, as well as the public officials, officials, and technicians involved in the collusive awards.

Specifically, the contracts awarded to Cofely in the municipalities of Torrejón de Velasco (valued at 4,111,395 euros), Moraleja de Enmedio (2,861,975), Parla (54,659,019), Alcalá de Henares (11,847,479), Valdemoro (50,280,748), Collado-Villalba (35,467,135), Móstoles (60,449,119), and Serranillos del Valle (4,205,589), totaling 224 million euros.

Three former executives of Cofely have also reached agreements with the prosecutor to admit the facts.