The sentence in the “Erial affair”, which sentenced Eduardo Zaplana to 10 years and five months in prison, represents a success in terms of recovery of corrupt assets which was noted by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard and the investigating judge of the case, Isabel Rodríguez Guerola. In total, 11.5 million euros were recovered, including funds confiscated and seized to guarantee the financial responsibilities of the convicts. Some assets that pass into the hands of the State.
The plot involved a very high volume of money – with a “turnover” of more than 20 million euros, according to prosecutor Pablo Ponce – in a complex business structure in tax havens that laundered illicit commissions invoiced to Sedesa, the Cotino family which obtained a capital gain of 86.5 million euros after obtaining the privatization of ITV, a call for tenders rigged by Zaplana and his former chief of staff, Juan Francisco García , according to the proven facts section.
The judgment, delivered by the fourth section of the Provincial Court of Valencia, details the seizures and interventions of bank accounts, investment funds, pension funds, vehicles, real estate or safes. The sentence provides for the confiscation of an Audi Q7 belonging to Eduardo Zaplana and a BMW X3 in the name of one of the front companies.
A Land Rover belonging to Joaquín Barceló ‘Pachano’, the confessed ringleader of the plot, and a Smart Fortwo belonging to Francisco Grau, a financial advisor, also remain seized, in order to ensure compliance with the financial responsibilities of the convicts.
The sentence provides for fines with a total value of more than 55 million euros. In addition, the former popular minister and former president of the Generalitat Valenciana, the main convict, has 63,325 euros confiscated (half of the funds in an account he shares with his wife); 50,000 euros in cash seized by the UCO during the search of the office of its secretary at Telefónica; 18,000 euros – also in cash – in the registration of his address in Madrid, and 238,100 euros in accounts at Banco Sabadell in the name of the Uruguayan lawyer Fernando Washington Belhot, architect of the “offshore” structure of the land in Panama and in Andorra.
The confiscation also includes the 6.7 million euros transferred to the Asset Management and Recovery Office from an account in Switzerland formally titled by Belhot but belonging to Zaplana, according to the judgment. In total, the bill to be paid by the former president of the Generalitat Valenciana amounts to 7.1 million euros in addition to the vehicle.
For Juan Francisco García, former chief of staff who reached an agreement with Anti-Corruption to recognize the facts and thus reduce the prison sentence, his participation in the “Erial affair” plot cost him 1.8 million euros, including your funds in bank accounts, investment funds and pension plans.
On the other hand, his wife (convicted of lucrative participation in the crime of money laundering) has 105,694 euros seized from accounts and a retirement plan. The sentence closes the confiscation section with an additional 371,371 euros from the companies involved in the conspiracy.
Houses in Benidorm and safes
Furthermore, a total of 473,214 euros belonging to Paco Grau, Zaplana’s tax advisor, remain seized, including bank accounts and investment funds, as well as the Smart vehicle and 40% of a house in Alicante.
The sentence maintains 471,506 euros seized from the leader ‘Pachano’, including checking and securities accounts, deposits, investment funds and cash seized during the police search of his home. Also three houses in Benidorm, a safe at Banco Sabadell and a Land Rover vehicle.
On the other hand, funds totaling 138,162 euros belonging to the brothers Vicente and José Cotino remain seized, including accounts and retirement plans, as well as a safe at Caixabank.
