The Provincial Court of Madrid has acquitted Luis Medina and Alberto Luceño of the crime of aggravated fraud in the sale of sanitary material to the Madrid City Council during the Pandemia. According to the sentence, it has not been possible to prove that both entrepreneurs deceive the officials responsible for the award of the contracts.
However, the judicial resolution does condemn Alberto look for fiscal crime, having not declared to the Treasury the millionaire income he obtained with the operation.
A failure that disassembles the accusation of fraud
The case, which became a symbol of the irregular management of public contracts during the health crisis, has concluded with a sentence that does not consider the deception to the Madrid town hall.
The Anti -Corruption Prosecutor requested 15 years in prison for Luceño and Nine for Medina, considering that both entrepreneurs inflated the prices of health products to obtain disproportionate commissions without the City Council being aware of it.
However, the magistrates have concluded that the City Council officials did know the factory price of the masks, gloves and tests acquired from the Malaya Leno company, and that they voluntarily accepted the terms of the contract. In this way, the audience considers that there was not enough deception to configure the crime of fraud.
Millionaire commissions for defective sanitary material
The contract signed in full health emergency amounted to 11 million euros, of which 4.3 million were subsequently returned to the City Council after confirming that the gloves delivered did not comply with the agreed specifications.
In total, they were acquired: one million masks, 250,000 fast tests and 2.5 million pairs of gloves.
From the operation, Alberto Luceño stayed with a commission of 4,623,350 euros, while Luis Medina received 912,700 euros.
The amounts obtained by the entrepreneurs, and the luxurious goods acquired with them – such as high -end cars, luxury watches and yachts – caused a huge public and political stir when the case was uncovered.
Luceño, convicted of fiscal crime
Although the hearing has not found sufficient evidence to condemn businessmen for fraud, it has determined that Alberto Luceño committed fiscal crime by not having correctly declared his income to the Tax Agency.
The Court has considered that Luceño eluded the payment of taxes on the millionaire commissions obtained and, therefore, has been firmly sentenced for tax fraud.
A media case with political repercussions
The mask scandal, as was baptized in the media, generated a strong controversy in the political and business sphere. The Madrid City Council, governed by José Luis Martínez-Almeida, remained in the center of the debate when approved an operation that, according to the sentence, was not fraudulent, but which was highly lucrative for intermediaries.
Despite the acquittal in the crime of fraud, this case has highlighted irregularities and lack of controls in the award of emergency contracts during the pandemic, an episode that will continue to generate debate in public opinion.
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