Trial Over Alleged Abuse of Power Against Former La Oliva Officials

Claudina Morales and Marcelino Umpiérrez face up to 9 years of disqualification.

This week, before the Criminal Court No. 2 in Puerto del Rosario, the oral trial began against the former mayor and former councilor for Finance of the La Oliva City Council, Claudina Morales and Marcelino Umpiérrez, respectively, as well as members of the company Colaboración Tributaria SL: Jorge Afonso Mesa, acting as commercial director, and Ramón Solé Vilanova, acting as administrator.

All defendants are accused of the crime of prevarication, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office is seeking a penalty of nine years of disqualification from holding public office or employment. It should be recalled that Morales had already been disqualified in the case known as “dedocracia.”

The investigation, carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office and even involving members of the Civil Guard’s cyber‑crime unit, extends over nearly three thousand pages.

The facts date back to 2015, when the municipal government of La Oliva, led by Pedro Amador, claimed to have detected that the company entrusted with the collection of local taxes, Colaboración Tributaria SL, was “systematically receiving amounts exceeding those stipulated in the public award contract.”

“Systematically receiving amounts exceeding those stipulated in the public award contract.”

The Prosecutor also alleges that the commercial director of Colaboración Tributaria SL allegedly organized fraudulent schemes that violated competition law so that the company he represented would be awarded the municipality’s tax assistance contract.

The trial now awaits the testimony of three defendants on 15 May, after which the Public Prosecutor’s report and the defense counsel’s statements will be examined, and the case file will be placed before the court for the issuance of a verdict.