The Madrid Prosecutor's Office has requested a penalty of ten years of special disqualification for the former mayor of Navalcarnero, Baltasar Santos, considering that for several years he acquired antiques funded with split invoices so that none exceeded the legal limit for minor contracts, set at 18,000 euros.
The Public Ministry attributes to him a continued crime of administrative prevarication, and the trial is scheduled for next Monday at the Provincial Court of Madrid.
According to the prosecutor's written statement, between 2006 and 2009, the then mayor of Navalcarnero decided to make various purchases from an antiques company in order to acquire several unique and period pieces, made of natural granite stone and dated between the 12th and 19th centuries.
These operations, according to the accusation, were carried out directly by the former mayor on four occasions: the first in 2006 at the company's own establishment and the other three at specialized antiques fairs, specifically Feriarte 2007, Almoneda 2008, and Feriarte 2009.
Once the pieces were chosen, the former mayor proceeded to split certain invoices with the purpose of ensuring that none reached the economic ceiling set for minor supply contracts, which is 18,000 euros.
However, "many of the pieces far exceeded that amount." Although the acquisitions took place between 2000 and 2009, the Prosecutor's Office emphasizes that the issuance of the invoices was delayed until the City Council ordered their issuance and for the amount determined in each case.
In this way, the company Antigüedades Fernández issued invoices between August 4, 2014, and December 31, 2014, almost all for amounts less than 18,000 euros. Subsequently, the accidental auditor of the City Council, on April 10, 2015, issued a certificate recognizing the debts arising from those invoices for a total of 734,571 euros.
The accusation maintains that these purchases were agreed upon by the mayor through verbal contracting, without processing any administrative file that formally approved the expenditure or incorporated the supporting documentation of the invoices.