The judge in charge has agreed to bring the former socialist deputy in Congress—and alleged leader of the group—to trial, , and another 22 people for alleged corruption crimes. The instructor María de los Ángeles Lorenzo-Cáceres y Farizo has closed the initial phase of the main piece and has agreed to continue the case through the abbreviated procedure, prior to the opening of the oral trial. In an order issued on the 11th, he maintains that the facts investigated could constitute crimes of bribery, embezzlement, prevarication, influence peddling, crimes against the Public Administration, fraud, falsehood, money laundering and, in a specific case,.
Among those prosecuted by the head of position number 4 of the Investigation Section of the Court of Instance of Santa Cruz de Tenerife are the nephew of Tito Bernithe former general director of Livestock of the Canary Islands Government, Taishet Fuentes; the retired general of the Civil Guard Francisco Espinosa; and the intermediary who gives the case its name, Marco Antonio Navarro Tacoronte.
which operated in the Canary Islands for about nine months, between the end of September 2020 and July 2021. According to the summary, several businessmen paid around 100,000 euros, known as the “mediator”, in exchange for obtaining administrative favors that never materialized. The companies made transfers without justification to the account of the couple of Navarro Tacoronte and also Curbelo, a former socialist deputy from Fuerteventura who, according to the investigation, acted as the leader of the organization.
The plot was articulated through bribes—in money, meals, parties or services in kind—intended to influence administrative decisions related to sanctions, licenses, contracts or subsidies from the Ministry of Livestock. that took place in the General Directorate of Livestock, appear linked to the promises of favors, although the summary maintains that none of them managed to alter files or benefit the businessmen who paid the bribes. The investigation also points to Civil Guard General Francisco Espinosa Navas, allegedly implicated for offering supposedly successful arrangements in exchange for money, although there is no proof that he carried them out.
The origin of the case dates back to a false complaint for a small fraud with a credit card in December 2021, which led to the discovery of the alleged corruption network when Navarro Tacoronte himself provided information about it. The summary describes how the mediator connected businessmen with public officials and details striking episodes, such as visits to the Congress of Deputies used to give the appearance of political influence or alleged payments in kind that could not be accredited. Despite the media coverage, the investigation has not yet confirmed economic damage to the Canarian Administration, although it has revealed a dynamic of promised favors, illegitimate commissions and contacts between businessmen and public officials that support the seriousness of the scandal.
The order details the crimes that could be charged to each of those investigated. The events attributed to Marco Antonio Navarro Tacoronte could constitute crimes of bribery, fraud, embezzlement, prevarication, influence peddling, falsehood and other crimes against the Public Administration. In addition, the judge specifies that he could also have incurred the crime of money laundering, an accusation that is mentioned separately and explicitly.
In the same main block there are three other investigators who are attributed the same list of possible crimes: Juan Bernardo Fuentes Curbelo, Taishet Fuentes Gutiérrez and Francisco Espinosa Navas. For all of them, the magistrate includes the possible commission of bribery, embezzlement, prevarication, influence peddling, fraud, falsehood and crimes against the Public Administration.
For the former vice-counselor of the Primary Sector of the Government of the Canary Islands, Álvaro de la Bárcena Argany and the former general director of the Fight Against Climate Change of the Government of the Canary Islands, José Domingo Fernández Herrera, the instructor considers that the facts investigated could constitute crimes of prevarication, influence peddling, crimes against the Public Administration and embezzlement of public funds. Unlike the first group, the crimes of bribery, fraud or falsification are not attributed to them, leaving their possible criminal responsibility limited to a smaller block.
