The opening of an oral trial against Pepe Vegara for a double crime against the Public Treasury, for which the prosecutor requests seven years in prison, has dominated local political news in the last week or two, however, the PP candidate for mayor of Orihuela is not the only with pending legal proceedings, who will be standing for mayor in the 28M elections.
Vegara justifies his position by stating that it is a private matter relating to his company, ITV Vega Baja, and that the issue is not related to his political management.
The same cannot be said of three other mayors, however, who also aspire to renew their positions and who have been charged for issues related to their work as mayors and/or councillors. Indeed, some of them have even been sentenced.
This is the case with the mayor of Benferri, Luis Vicente Mateo (PSOE), who the Orihuela Criminal Court number 3 has sentenced to four months in prison and a fine of more than 42,000 euros in compensation to the Town Hall secretary, for workplace harassment.
The mayor has appealed the sentence, although this has not prevented the opposition from asking for his resignation, given the seriousness of the accusations.
Another mayor who has an oral trial outstanding for workplace harassment of an official, prevarication and bribery, is the socialist José Manuel Butrón, who has been mayor of Los Montesinos since it’s independence from Almoradí in 1991. The Prosecutor’s Office is asking for a year in prison, although the case is still being investigated.
One other socialist currently being probed is Miguel López, who was mayor of Benejúzar for half the term, following an agreement with Ciudadanos. In this case, the court is investigating him for an alleged electoral crime, for sending out a mailshot, peddling for votes before the 2015 campaign began. The trial will be held after the elections, although it should have been held in 2021, but was postponed. He should also have testified on March 13 for authorising work on undeveloped land, although in this case there is no formal accusation at the moment, as the investigations continue.
The list of those being investigated in the region continues, but these are councillors and not potential mayors.
There is the Los Montesinos councillor, Belén Juárez, for whom the Provincial Court has opened an oral trial. We also have Luisa Boné and Ángel Noguera from Orihuela, both belonging to Ciudadanos. The latter was recently dismissed from his post by the mayoress, Carolina Gracia (PSOE).
The Boné allegation relates to Contracting, where she is being investigated for the alleged crime of prevarication of a contract for the maintenance of green areas on the Coast. The investigation began as a result of a complaint by Cambiemos before the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office at the end of 2021.
In the same case, and for the same reasons, her colleague Ángel Noguera, councillor for Infrastructures, is also being investigated. As in the case of Miguel López, both should have declared on March 13, but their case was postponed due to a strike by Lawyers of the Administration of Justice.
Noguera is also the subject of a second case, which is the one that caused the mayoress to withdraw his powers. This relates to the Orihuela Costa road maintenance service contract, in which he is being investigated for prevarication.
The photo shows Butrón, López, Vegara and Mateo
