The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency is investigating the Benidorm City Council for the payment of overtime to a local police officer, specifically the husband of the PP spokesperson and Urban Planning councilor, Lourdes Caselles. The investigators have required the council to certify the extra hours that the agent received in his salary and which, between 2019 and 2022, represented an increase in the police officer’s income of 15,200 euros. The extraordinary remunerations were paid by the Local Government Board where Caselles is present, although sources from the council have explained to elDiario.es that the Popular Party councilor was absent from the voting to avoid incurring an irregularity.
The agent, who during those years received remuneration for special operations, carried out 564 hours more than what was stipulated in his contract in four years, and this was also paid for the special operations mounted by the local police, such as in cases of municipal festivals. or music festivals.
According to the information available to the Anti-Fraud Agency and to which elDiario.es has had access, the local police officer received 5,607 euros in overtime for 155 extra hours worked. In 2020, the year of Covid and the total closure of the municipality, the agent received 2,552 euros for 74 overtime hours. In 2021, the extra hours earned were 250.8 for which he received 5,199 euros and in 2022 the extraordinary income for overtime was 2,001 euros for 97.5 extra hours.
The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, which has been investigating for more than a year following an external complaint, has requested more information from the city council, which has already been presented. Among the information required is the request for work carried out outside the working day by the agent and whether the overtime was during the day, at night or on holidays, because its price is higher depending on the characteristic. The investigators have also requested the payrolls in which the payment of overtime was included and the audit report of the intervention issued in the payroll file corresponding to its inclusion.
The Agency has also required Benidorm City Council to provide a copy of the municipal regulatory regulations applicable to staff on the possibility of collecting bonuses for services outside of working hours. In this sense, it is worth remembering that agents usually receive extraordinary rewards when they participate in special police operations and that they also receive a productivity supplement.
City council payments to the mayor’s brother
In this same investigation that is based on the same complaint, the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency has also requested documentation on payments to Isidro Pérez, brother of the mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez. In this case, the researchers have requested information from the council about the payments that were made between 2020 and 2023.
The amount of payments reached 23,027 euros for stationery services, computer equipment for libraries or school supplies through an aid voucher, according to the documentation held by elDiario.es.
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