Over 200 people attended a Partido Popular rally on Saturday where their candidate for Mayor of Orihuela, Pepe Vegara, was forced to defend himself against assertions levelled by the political website ElPlural.com, which published an article alleging that he was the subject of two crimes against the Treasury, for his management of the Vega Baja ITV centre.
According to the article, “the Prosecutor’s Office has sent an indictment for the two crimes and has requested the opening of an oral trial against Vegara and several other people.”
Vegara has acknowledged that this case was opened in 2011 but, according to him, “it was closed in 2015”.
He said that he is not aware of “any opening of an oral trial, so if it has been opened again, I do not know. It is true that in 2011 we received a complaint but in 2015 it was filed.” He added that in 2011 he had heart surgery and did not go into work all year.
However, ElPlural.com insists that the case is still open with the prosecutor requesting four years in prison, with a fine of 4,500,000 euros, for the crime against the Treasury for corporate tax fraud, and three years in prison, with a fine of more than 600,000 euros, for the VAT fraud.
On Saturday the Regional newspaper Diario Informacion weighed in with an article in which it said that it is able to confirm that the case remains open, although it was archived in the first instance, years ago; in fact, the Orihuela court has recently transferred the conclusions of the accusations to Vegara so that he can formulate his defence; that is, to defend himself before a decision is made whether or not to open a trial. However, the fact that there are two prosecutions would make it very difficult for him not to have to answer before a judge.
The allegations were particularly embarrassing for Vegara as they were made just prior to him hosting a meal for members and supporters of the Popular Party in Orihuela, attended by two PP heavyweights, Cuca Gamarra, general secretary of the PP, and Carlos Mazón, the President of the party in the Valencian Community.
In addressing the audience, Mazón defended Vegara’ saying “I think these explanations are adequate.”
Having answered the accusations, Vegara then spoke of his desire to return Orihuela to the place it should never have lost, as a leading municipality in the Valencian Community.
“I said it and I maintain it, in me you will only find dedication, good management and, above all, hard work. We will fight side by side, to return the joy, the hope and the light”.
To rapturous applause, Vegara went on to say, “I am not a magician, nor do I perform miracles, and I will not deceive you by false promises. Orihuela cannot be changed in two days, but we will begin to do so from May 28”.
“We will have to build a second health centre and a third school on the coast, unfold the CV-95, support the rehabilitation of our historic centre, fight against the imposition of the Valencian language and continue to support all our farmers because the transfer is essential”, he concluded.
Carlos Mazón also highlighted a need for change that is going to start both in the Valencian Community and in Orihuela, a municipality that deserves real investments and not deception such as recovery plans that never arrive. “We must continue fighting for the water that we deserve and to stop kneeling and being humiliated by the lethal duo, Sánchez and Puig
The general secretary of the PP, Cuca Gamarra, also had strong words, highlighting that there are winds of change in this country, in the Valencian Community and in Orihuela.
