Janet Anscombe

Update 27 July 2011: Arona Court 2 has today initiated preliminary legal action for planning irregulariities against the 30 suspects, including the current mayor, José Alberto González Reverón.

The preliminary action phase (in Spanish diligencias previas) is a formal part of the procedure, which aims to determine the nature and circumstances of the alleged crimes, ranging from influence peddling to outright corruption, the individuals involved, and the legal mechanism (i.e. which court and procedures) for the cases to be heard.

The judgement for the procedure to be initiated was given today by the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Canarias (TSJC – effectively the Canarian High Court) on the basis that there are questions for these officials to answer into planning in the municipality, not least some concerning ongoing “influence trafficking” and “official misconduct” (malfeasance) by the mayor, who is alleged to have consistently favoured his cousin and fellow councillor, Manuel Reverón González.

In the judgement, the Judge indicated that these 30 individuals voted systematically in favour of building licences despite the files showing unfavourable technical reports.   PV

Original post 30 June 2009: The Caso Arona, a series of investigations into alleged urban planning irregularities in Arona, has finally had its sub judice legal status lifted by Nelson Díaz Frías, Judge of Arona #7 Court, who said that he felt the investigations of materials submitted by the Guardia Civil were now at such a stage that raising the judicial secrecy would not prejudice the case. Now it is known that the mayor of Arona, Jóse Alberto González Reverón, is accused of alleged embezzlement and corruption. Reveron will be in Court to give his evidence on 7 July. (Update 5 July: the mayor’s appearance in Court has now been postponed until the summer vacations are over. He will give evidence in September).

In addition to the mayor, a series of councillors, officials, independent professionals and businessmen are also accused of similar charges. Those who will also find themselves face to face with the Judge are Félix Sierra Melo, Antonio Sosa, Clara María Pérez, María Gladys Tacoronte, Manuel Reverón, María Candelaria Padrón, Eliseo de la Rosa, Arsenio Zamora, Roberto de Luis and Zenón Rodríguez. They will give evidence in the days following Reverón’s appearance.

It was only a fortnight ago that I reported HERE on the arrest of the former mayor of San Miguel Ayuntamiento, again on charges of urbanistic corruption while in office. Maybe the hubristic abuse of power by some individuals in positions of authority is finally beginning to catch up with them.  Diario de Avisos