The
Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office
has filed a complaint against two councilors of the
Compromís
of the
Palma de Gandía
City Council
(Valencia) for an alleged
crime of bribery
.
Both tried to buy the vote of a third mayor, the Councilor for Sports, to present a
motion of censure
with which to recover the municipal government of this town of 1,600 inhabitants.
The bait was that he would keep his position, would charge 1,000 euros a month and the council would promote his company in sporting events that he organized.
The protagonists of this story are three.
On the one hand, the councilors of Compromís
Manuel Sansaloni
, number 2 of the party in the town, and
Ricardo Pastor
.
On the other,
David García
, former socialist activist and current councilor for Sports, Industry and Youth.
In the municipal elections of May 2019, the political force with the most votes in Palma de Gandia was Compromís, which won four councilors and proclaimed Inmaculada Escrivá mayor, who held the position until November 2019, when she handed over the leadership to Sansaloni shortly before passing away from cancer.
After Escrivá's death, the corporation fully submitted the election of the new mayor and, with the support of three councilors of the PP, the socialist
Trinidad Miñana
obtained the mayoralty, although both she and David García were immediately expelled from the PSPV for accepting the help of the
popular
.
From that moment, they became non-attached councilors, but they remained in their positions.
On October 28, 2020, a year after the change in the mayor's office, Manuel Sansaloni and Ricardo Pastor summoned David García at Bar Enrique in the town of Benirredrá to explain that his situation as a non-attached councilor could bring him problems because the
Court The Supreme Court
had issued a ruling that stated that the non-attached councilors could not hold any position in the government team and, if they had held it, they were obliged to restore the amounts charged for it.
After this warning, they raised the possibility of calling a motion of censure, explaining how it had to be done, and offered him certain economic benefits in exchange for varying the direction of his vote and supporting Compromís' candidacy.
"In the first place, they told him that if he acceded to the request, the eventual judicial claim could be settled thanks to a prior agreement between the parties. They also offered to maintain the ownership of the council that he occupied until that moment and, in case of that he did not have time to develop his activity, other people would do it for him, keeping his full salary. Finally, they offered him
a salary of one thousand euros
per month and promote his private business through sports activities planned by the City Council itself " , the Prosecutor's Office collects in its complaint brief.
This alleged bribery crime comes to light because David García recorded the almost three hours of conversation with an
electronic device
and reported the facts to the Prosecutor's Office, which considers that this evidence is fully valid and that the bribery could be aggravated by the status of an official complainant's audience.
No resignation
Neither of the two denounced has left his position as councilor of Palma de Gandía.
In fact, shortly after the complaint that gave rise to the Anticorruption investigation was presented, Sansaloni, as Compromís spokesperson, issued a statement in which he stated that they would not resign and that the only reason for that meeting was to "try form a new progressive government team. "
It so happens that Sansaloni was the number two candidate for the PSPV in the Palma de Gandía City Council in the 2015 elections as an independent and held the position of Councilor for Culture, Education, Sports and Transparency.
However, in February 2018 he had to resign due to the
insults and threats
that he and his family received as a result of the controversy unleashed by the process to change the name of the town to
Palma de la Safor
.
The mayoress of Palma de Gandia, Mari Trini Miñana, yesterday regretted the resignation of councilor Manolo Sansaloni, second on the PSPV-PSOE list in the last elections, due, according to her complaint, to the insults and threats that he and his family have received as a result of the controversy unleashed by the process to change the name of the town to «Palma de la Safor
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