The judgments have been acquitted by the architect Alberto Zulueta, the builders Francisco Javier Bediaga and Eduardo Ibarra, and the municipal architect Marta Novo. The crimes charged included the prevention, falsification of documents, fraud and misappropriation of public funds.

The facts investigated took place in 2011-2015 and then mayor José Luis Erezuma was also prosecuted, but died before the trial and all charges were suspended for him.

Amazement

The sentence has surprised many social areas, as in January 2022 the defendants recognized the crimes charged and signed an agreement with the prosecution and the private prosecution not to go to jail. In return for damage caused, the agreement agreed to pay EUR 881,000.

The case consisted of EUR 600,000 contributed by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia to the Town Hall of Alonsotegi. They were to be used to repair damage caused by the 2011 floods in the locality. But the operation was a trap and the money was not used for it, as Mayor Erezuma approved in 2019. The City Hall had a debt of just over EUR 1 million for the work carried out by the company Laneder for the City Hall, which paid EUR 450,000 thousand, but the remainder was missing, for which the grant requested from the Provincial Council of Bizkaia was used.

It was a trap, not misuse.

According to the judgment, it has not been demonstrated that the defendants have applied for this subsidy for their benefit. It is clear, however, that the EUR 600,000 contributed by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia was not earmarked for the request, but the existence of a crime in that processing has not been established.

The judgment also states that there is no misuse of money, because public institutions have not had any economic damage, because the requested subsidy was not intended for the requested purpose, but that it served to pay the City Hall’s debt to another company. There was a trap, yes, but that did not harm the public administration.