The Congress of Deputies has unanimously approved that the Supreme Court investigate the PP deputy Alberto Casero for evidence of prevarication and embezzlement of public funds when he was mayor of Trujillo (Cáceres). In a secret vote, the request has gone ahead unanimously, with 340 votes in favor.
Casero, a close collaborator of the former general secretary of the PP Teodoro García Egea, and who became famous for allegedly voting erroneously by using telematic voting and thus saving the labor reform rejected by his party, has had the opportunity to attend and present allegations. He has not done so, and the request has been processed quickly. In June, he admitted before the Supreme Court instructor that, during his time as mayor, he signed some contracts that did not comply with the legal procedure, but defended that, in any case, there were only “administrative irregularities”, never a crime, as a judge of the Supreme Court maintained. Extremadura municipality.
Judge Andrés Palomo, who is investigating the open case against Casero, asked the Criminal Chamber in September to request permission from Congress to act against the parliamentarian for alleged crimes of prevarication and embezzlement. In a letter sent to the courtroom, Palomo proposed to address a request to the lower house to proceed criminally against Casero upon finding “rational evidence” of both crimes in several minor contracts that the now deputy signed as alderman between 2017 and 2018. The petition to the Lower House is a necessary procedure to continue with the investigation of Casero, which, by implying a criminal prosecution against a member of the legislative branch, requires the authorization of Congress.
The statement submitted to the Supreme Court by the Court of First Instance and Instruction number 2 of Trujillo indicates that Casero, in his capacity as mayor, concluded “with different people and entities”, service contracts, sponsorship or agreements, “failing to comply with all kinds of formality required for this purpose by the applicable regulations in each case”, as explained in the letter.
Casero could have committed a continuing crime of administrative prevarication by not having followed “the legally established administrative procedures” in hiring a psychologist, signing an agreement with the Peruvian Chamber of Commerce or holding at least two cultural events, depending on the exposure. The prosecution also appreciates evidence of a crime of embezzlement.
The Commission for the Statute of the Deputy, chaired by the socialist Adriana Lastra, held a first vote behind closed doors a week ago and there was already unanimity among the groups present to approve an opinion favorable to the concession.
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After this Thursday’s vote, the president of Congress, Meritxell Batet, has a period of eight days to transfer the result of the vote to the judicial authority, in this case the acceptance of the request, and must also warn of the obligation to communicate to the Chamber the orders and sentences that are issued and affect the deputy personally.
Until now, Congress had approved 32 requests and rejected 14. The last one that went ahead was that of the president of Junts, Laura Borràs, in June 2020, which gave the green light to the Supreme Court to investigate her for crimes of fraud against the Administration, embezzlement of public funds and false documents in her stage as director of the Institució de les Lletres Catalanes (ILC). Finally, she was suspended as a deputy and as president of the Catalan Parliament.
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