The judge opens oral proceedings against Noelia Posse, former mayor of Móstoles, for the ‘ITV case’

The judge of the investigating court number one of Móstoles has opened oral proceedings against the former socialist mayor of Móstoles, Noelia Posse, and seven other councillors of the local government that formed PSOE and Podemos between 2019 and 2023, for the alleged commission of the crimes of prevarication and embezzlement of public funds that are being investigated in the ITV casefocused on clarifying whether the decision to forgive a debt to a company dedicated to vehicle inspections caused harm to the municipal coffers. The order, dated July 31 and to which EL PAÍS had access, affects up to five councillors of the current council, now run by the PP, and requires the accused to “jointly and severally post bail within one day in the amount of 817,453.94 euros” (the figure that should be repaid to the municipal coffers, according to the private prosecution). Otherwise, “their assets will be seized in sufficient quantity to guarantee the stated sum.”

The first consequence is that the PSOE of Madrid, led by Juan Lobato, will transfer the case in the next few hours to the federal commission of guarantees, which will foreseeably suspend the members of the party and open an expulsion file for the officials involved. That was, in any case, the promise made by the general secretary of the Madrid socialists in 2023, when the Provincial Court decided to prosecute the accused for the decision to forgive or split the payment of an accumulated debt that reached 2,455,725.39 euros over the years.

“What I said two years ago: the moment that any member is brought to trial, it will be transferred to federal guarantees,” Lobato explained to this newspaper in a telephone conversation. “That means transferring the file to whoever has to process the decision on the status of member, which is the federal guarantees council,” he added about a procedural step that the Madrid federation hopes to take this very day. “The normal thing is that they suspend their membership.”

“Juan Lobato must keep his word and expel the former mayor of Móstoles from the PSM,” claimed Manuela Bergerot, the leader of Más Madrid, the party that promoted the complaint against the former mayor of the second most populated city in the region (200,000 inhabitants). “Progressive parties must be implacable against corruption.”

Posse’s first controversies as mayor date back to 2019, when she hired her sister for 52,000 euros a year to manage the City Council’s social media. She then appointed Jesús Miguel Espelosín, son of a former socialist councillor in Madrid, as manager of the Municipal Land Company. In addition, she ordered the promotion of her uncle, a municipal official, who was given a supplement of 1,600 euros a month. She also approved a salary increase of 800 euros for her ex-partner, Gonzalo Sánchez Oliva, placed as supervisor of the City Council’s Special Intervention Group. And she hired a personal friend, Alicia Domínguez Villarino, as coordinator of the Mayor’s Office. All of them resigned or were dismissed after the scandal broke out in the media.

It was in this difficult context that Más Madrid filed its complaint regarding the ITV case. According to the account of the facts contained in this document, the company was awarded a plot of land in the Móstoles Tecnológico Park on June 6, 2011. It had to pay an annual fee of 133,000 euros and was granted the land for a period of 30 years. This amount was to increase each year according to the consumer price index (CPI), so that in 2020 it already reached 147,653.59 euros per year, according to the complaint.

During the first two years, the ITV paid the fee without any problems, but in 2013 it only received, according to the court document, 713 euros. As of July 22, 2020, it owed the City Council 1,129,570.78 euros. In November 2017, the Collection service began a collection procedure when the debt reached almost 550,000 euros.

The company then asked for the cancellation of charges and costs, a reduction of 400,000 euros and the payment to be divided into 12 months. But the municipal secretary refused the request in a report, arguing that it was a private company that had started an activity “at risk and fortune” and that there was no room for economic rebalancing “since it is not a public service”, like garbage collection or the municipal crane.

In July 2020, the concessionaire submitted an application requesting a reduction in the fee to €60,000 per year, a waiver of 50% of the accumulated debt and payment of the other half at a rate of €30,000 per year until the end of the concession. It claimed that it had requested pre-bankruptcy proceedings prior to the application.

The reports of the secretary and the municipal auditor rejected the request, as they had not presented the annual accounts, nor had they filed them in the Commercial Registry, in addition to not having provided an accounting report. The Governing Board on September 1 accepted the pre-bankruptcy, which was withdrawn by the concessionaire just nine days later. At the same time, it requested the application of the new conditions immediately. However, this was not approved until October 20, but on an urgent basis. By granting it this imminent character, the municipal Government was able to avoid the reports against the secretary and the auditor, according to the complaint. The auditor brought the case on November 5, 2020 before the Court of Auditors for possible harm to the interests of the City Council of Móstoles, after which he was dismissed.

In May 2022, the investigating court number 1 of the second most populated city in the Community of Madrid (207,000 inhabitants) considered that there was no evidence that any crime had been committed, noted that the operation had in fact benefited the city and dismissed the investigation. However, in 2023, the Provincial Court of Madrid ordered the prosecution of Posse, and seven councillors of his government team, made up of PSOE and Podemos. After that decision, the opening of an oral trial has now arrived.

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