The Second Section of the Provincial Court of the Balearic Islands celebrates this Thursday (09:30 am) the hearing prior to the trial against the 11 defendants of the multimedia case in which several members of the Balearic PSOE led by Francina Armengol are accused. They are accused of crimes of prevarication, fraud against the Administration, influence peddling, embezzlement and falsehood in official, commercial and public documents. Among the defendants are former PSOE senator Antoni Manchado.
At the time of the facts, Manchado was CEO of the Multimedia Society. Also accused is the former socialist leader in Calvià Francisco Cano or the owner of the audiovisual production company Miquel Oliver.
The Multimedia case deals with the illegal diversion of more than 300,000 public euros during the 2007-2011 legislature, the main defendant being the former leader of the Calvià PSOE, Antonio Manchado, who between 2007 and 2011 was General Director of Technology and CEO of the public company Multimedia de les Illes Balears SAU. It was an entity dependent on the Government and created in principle to promote the development of the technological society and that in that legislature managed a large budget to implement DTT in the Islands.
The Sociedad Multimedia de Baleares was incorporated as a public trading company on January 27, 2006, with capital subscribed and fully paid up by the Community, which was its sole shareholder. This company had its own legal personality, attached to the Department of the Presidency. Antonio Manchado was appointed member of the Board of Directors of Multimedia de Baleares.
From February 2008 to October 2011, a series of contracts were concluded that, according to the prosecutor, went against the essential principles of contracting, to the extent that the three cardinal principles of bidding were not respected. The strategy to enrich themselves unfairly, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, consisted of stealing material resources from the Administration by presenting invoices with false information that were later deliberately certified by the corresponding officials.
Said certifications contained administrative resolutions that allowed “unfair” payment, according to the prosecutor, for work that did not represent any utility to the Administration or were a copy of previous reports or had been obtained directly from Internet pages, billing for work not carried out or for non-existent hours of dedication.
In total, the Public Ministry refers to more than a dozen allegedly illegal contracts within the two areas created under the direction of two of the accused.
It should be remembered that the case was opened in 2014 by virtue of a complaint from the Public Ministry for alleged crimes of embezzlement and fraud, among others, that would have been committed through the company dependent on the Ministry of the Presidency.
For four defendants, the prosecutor requests 17 years in prison, a fine of 207,200 euros and disqualification for 32 years for each one. Likewise, for three of them he asks for 12 years in prison, ten years of absolute disqualification, another five of disqualification to obtain subsidies and aid, and a fine of 3,600 euros.
On the other hand, for two other defendants he requests 14 years in prison, ten of absolute disqualification, five of disqualification to obtain subsidies and the payment of 203,600 euros.
In addition, for the last two, he claims penalties that add up to 12 years in prison -for each one-, ten of absolute disqualification, five of disqualification from obtaining subsidies and the payment of a fine of 3,600 euros.
On the other hand, for civil liability, the defendants must indemnify the Autonomous Community in the total amount of 814,314 euros.
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