The defendant altered municipal documents so that court-awarded funds were paid into his personal bank account. He avoided a trial—and a prosecution request for eight and a half years in prison—after admitting the offence and repaying almost all the money.
A court representative who worked for Torrevieja City Council for decades has accepted a two-year prison sentence after admitting that he diverted almost €37,000 in municipal funds into his personal bank account.
The plea agreement with the Public Prosecutor’s Office avoids a trial and substantially reduces the sentence originally sought by the private prosecutors. The defendant admitted the offence and repaid almost all the money, according to sources familiar with the case.
Because the prison term does not exceed two years, he may apply to have the sentence suspended, subject to the conditions established under Spanish law.
The City Council and the municipal lawyer who appeared in the proceedings as an injured party had sought a total prison sentence of eight and a half years: six years for fraud and two and a half years for document forgery. They had also requested a fine, a four-year professional disqualification and penalties for professional misconduct.
Under the plea agreement, the defendant avoids the risk of a longer prison term, a full trial and a ban that could have prevented him from continuing his professional activity.
Fine, compensation and legal costs
In addition to the two-year prison sentence, the judgment imposes a five-month fine at a daily rate of €8.
The defendant must also pay €1,500 in civil compensation, plus interest, relating to the final sums diverted. He is further liable for interest accrued on all the misappropriated funds—an amount that has yet to be calculated—and for the full costs of the proceedings.
The investigation began after the head of Torrevieja City Council’s legal department identified irregularities during a review of payments, mainly involving court costs, interest and surplus funds arising from municipal litigation.
Investigators found that court documents and bank-account ownership certificates had been altered. Money that should have been transferred to the City Council was instead paid into the defendant’s personal account.
The diversion was carried out by replacing the municipality’s bank account number with the defendant’s own account details.
Abuse of a position of trust
The City Council and its legal representative argued that the defendant acted according to a “premeditated plan”, exploiting both his position of trust and his professional role.
According to the accusations, he diverted more than €36,000 in court-awarded costs and surplus funds connected to legal proceedings involving the municipality.
When a court requested the Council’s bank details to transfer funds, the municipal legal department sent the defendant a signed document containing the correct account number, together with a bank certificate supplied by the municipal Treasury.
Although digitally signed, the document remained editable so the court representative could add his own signature before submitting it.
Investigators said he altered both the document and the bank certificate, replacing the municipal account details with those of his personal bank account.
He then submitted the manipulated documents to the relevant court. Afterwards, he allegedly sent the municipal lawyer an altered filing receipt designed to make it appear that the correct documents had been submitted through LexNET, Spain’s electronic judicial communications system.
The municipal lawyer responsible for the cases had no apparent reason to suspect the alteration because the receipts appeared to confirm that the documents had been filed correctly.
The defendant altered substantial sections of documents prepared by the municipal lawyer, replaced the bank details and then added his own signature. He also modified bank-issued certificates identifying the account holder.
Seven transfers linked to five proceedings
The falsified documents led courts and tribunals to transfer funds directly into the defendant’s personal account.
Investigators identified forged documentation in at least five legal proceedings, including cases before the High Court of Justice, an administrative court and a commercial court. Seven transfers were traced to the defendant’s account.
A final report by the Civil Guard’s Economic Crimes Unit supported the allegations through documentary evidence, bank-account analysis, financial tracing, court records, witness statements and material seized during searches of the defendant’s office and home.
The activity took place between September 13, 2024, when the first transfer was made, and April 30, 2025, the date of the final detected payment.
The total amount transferred into the personal account identified by the City Council was €36,954.19.
The largest payment, amounting to €30,542, was returned immediately. Prosecutors maintained, however, that the repayment was not prompted by the discovery of an innocent mistake. According to the Civil Guard report, the defendant returned the money only after being questioned about its destination.
Representation continued in older cases
Torrevieja City Council awarded its current legal-services contract on November 21, 2022. From that date, a new lawyer assumed responsibility for representing the municipality before various courts and tribunals, primarily in administrative litigation.
The involvement of a court representative is not compulsory in cases heard by single-judge administrative courts. However, a number of proceedings initiated before the new contract was awarded were still under way.
In most of those cases, the now-convicted defendant remained formally registered as the City Council’s court representative. The previous legal team therefore authorised him to continue acting for the municipality in proceedings that had begun before November 21, 2022, including receiving notifications and completing procedural formalities.
