The president of the Generalitat Valenciana, the popular Carlos Mazón, was the general director responsible for technical inspections of vehicles when the brothers José and Vicente Cotino made the ‘plot’ effective of the ITV accredited in the ‘Erial Case’. The task of his department was, among others, to carry out “monitoring and control of vehicle technical inspection stations.” Under his management, two of the businessmen who paid commissions to Eduardo Zaplana resold the company that received the service award, obtaining a notable economic benefit.
The ruling of the Fourth Section of the Provincial Court of Valencia, which sentences former president Eduardo Zaplana to ten years in prison, proves that the former minister with Aznar and his then chief of staff received illicit commissions after intervening in the process of awarding the privatization of the ITVs. Also that the brothers Vicente and José Cotino, nephews of former councilor Juan Cotino, paid the former president commissions for the aforementioned awards and later sold their company. The company Levantina de Obras y Servicios, of the Sedesa group, sold the company awarded the ITV for 37 million euros seven years later. The Cotinos confessed to having paid commissions to Zaplana in Luxembourg and they obtained a capital gain of 86 million euros between the ITV and the wind farms.
The sentence, which can be appealed, does not mention or refer to the current head of the Generalitat Valenciana, nor does it link him to the criminal acts, but it draws a schedule that coincides with the moment in which the current head of the Consell had just arrived at the department responsible for the inspections. . Carlos Mazón was appointed general director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs in 2003 with the Government of Francisco Camps. In the midst of a political battle for control of the PP, the young man from Nuevas Generaciones who had been supported by Eduardo Zaplana obtained a position in the Consell chaired by his political rival. A year later, in 2004 and until 2007, he became general director of Consumer Affairs and Industrial Safety, according to his own resume, available on the transparency portal.
The appointment of Carlos Mazón It was published in DOGV on September 6, 2004 as general director of Industrial Safety and Consumer Affairs, of the Department of Business, University and Science. A month later, on October 1, 2004, another decree signed by Francisco Camps approved the Organic and Functional Regulations (ROF) of the Department of Business, University and Science, where Mazón was general director. In this standard, which contains the responsibilities of each department, it is indicated that the General Directorate of Industrial Safety and Consumer Affairs, which Mazón occupies, is competent in “the preparation of regulations and action plans, coordination and control in matters of safety.” industrial and metrology”, the “preparation of studies, reports and proposals on the resolution of files, procedures, organization and management in the field of industrial safety and metrology” and in “the performance of actions related to the authorization, monitoring and control of stations “technical vehicle inspection”. In 2003, industrial safety competencies depended on the General Directorate of Industry and Energy, then under the Department of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, without specific references in the ROF to vehicle inspection competencies.
In 2005, Mazón, then head of Industry, assured that the Valencian ITVs “worked with agility.” In information collected by The Provinces On May 19, 2005, the current president and leader of the Valencian PP responded to an accusation from an association of mechanical workshops that requested “greater rigor” in technical inspections. The workshops asked to participate in the functions of the ITVs that had been privatized eight years ago. The news refers to statements by Mazón in which he boasts that the Valencian Community was a “pioneer” in incorporating noise testing. This test, questioned by a report from the Valencian Government, increased the price of the inspection between 8 and 10 euros for drivers and is one of those that causes the price imbalance between autonomous communities. The Valencian Government, With the popular Isabel Bonig as councilor of the branch, he prepared a report that pointed to over-invoicing of the tests, but a ruling from the TSJ disauthorized the Consell’s report, agreeing with the plaintiff company. Mazón overthrew Bonig as president of the Valencian PP in 2021 with the support of the national leadership of the PP in Madrid’s Génova street, which forced the departure of the party of which he had been leader for almost two terms.
The proven facts of Erial
The proven facts of the ‘Erial case’ ruling establish a schedule of adjudications, which reflects the complexity of the technical process. In July 1996, a table was created for the rationalization of the public sector, within the framework of which the Contracting Table for ITV awards was created, with Zaplana’s former chief of staff, Juan Francisco García, as responsible. Different departments of the Valencian Government participated in this process.
One of the inspection lots, lot 1, is awarded to a union of several companies, among which are those of the Cotino. The ruling says: “Lot 1 was awarded to the UTE Valenciana de Revisiones SL, formed by the companies Servicios de Excavaciones (Asedes Capital), Levantina de Obras y Servicios (LOE) and the company Iteuve. The fee set for the award of said lot was 5,823,318.12 euros.” Asedes Capital was part of the Sedesa Group, where the brothers and their uncle operated.
The ruling, in its proven facts, continues: “Levantina de Obras y Servicios (LOE) acquired all of the shares of Servicios de Excavaciones on October 8, 2002 and Servicios de Excavaciones on May 10, 2002 had acquired the all of the capital shares held by Iteuve”, and then: “The resolution of October 31, 2002 of José Antonio Manteca Pérez, Secretary General of the Department of Industry, Commerce and Energy, authorized the subrogation of lot 1 to the “Valenciana de Revisiones SL”.
The ruling indicates that the Cotinos’ company, Levantina de Obras y Servicios, of the Sedesa group, sold its shares in a public deed of November 29, 2004 for 43 million euros, although it finally obtained 37 million. At that time, and according to the Official Gazette of the Generalitat Valenciana, Mazón had been in the general direction responsible for ITV for two months, although the judicial text does not make any mention of his responsibility. Neither the current president nor the department he managed are mentioned in the text of the Provincial Court of Valencia, despite holding the position. When the president of the Generalitat was asked about the conviction of his predecessor, he limited himself to expressing respect for the judicial decisions. The opposition in the Corts Valencianes, formed by the PSPV and Compromís, reminded Mazón of his links with Zaplana: “He is his political son.”
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