The Supreme Court has confirmed on Monday the sentence issued by the National Court in the separate piece known as the "visit of the Pope", where a corporate structure created by Francisco Correa to obtain illegal awards of contracts of different administrations and public entities, and specifically of the organization and operation of the so-called "Correa group" in Valencia, is declared proven. or Valencian branch, group led by Correa and Pablo Crespo during the years 2004 to 2008, and the previous actions aimed at obtaining the award of public contracts.

Specifically, the High Court confirms the sentences received by the ringleader Correa, 13 years and 7 months, and his 'number two', Pablo Crespo, with 15 years and 5 months.

The judgment considers as a proven fact that in October 2005, the organization led by Correa, having prior knowledge of the visit of His Holiness Benedict XVI to Valencia, on the occasion of the celebration of the V World Meeting of Families on July 7, 8 and 9, 2006, began a series of actions aimed at obtaining the illicit award of the provision of services and supplies necessary to the development of this event, carrying out negotiations with the then Minister of Agriculture, the late Juan Cotino, to obtain the award of the contract for the rental supply of the screens and sound. Several of the defendants decided that the order and the cost of the conclusion of this contract for the supply of video, public address and sound screens would not be carried directly by the V EMF Foundation, but by the public entity Radiotelevisión Valenciana (RTVV) in favor of a screen company -Teconsa-, which in turn subcontracted -when this was prohibited- with the company Impacto Producciones SL.

RTVV awarded Teconsa, through a procurement file through a negotiated procedure without advertising processed by urgency, the supply under the rental regime of video, sound and public address screen equipment for RTVV, for an amount of 6,460,000 euros (7,493,600 euros, including VAT), much higher than the real cost of the works necessary for its execution, which meant an extra cost charged to the public funds of the RTVV of 3,205,375.11 euros and a correlative illicit enrichment in favor of the defendants who intervened decisively in that award.

The award to Teconsa was already determined beforehand, since its employees were working for it, as well as the subcontracted companies Apogee Telecomunicaciones e Impacto Producciones, and also RTVV.

It was a direct award, the dossier being prepared in a predated manner, a file plagued by irregularities: such as the choice of the negotiated procedure, when the appropriate one for the amount and because the urgency was not justified, was the contest, specifications without price and with uncertainty regarding the service that was tendered, lack of proof of invitations and the presentation of tenders, lack of technical capacity of the successful bidder to carry out such works -it was a construction company-, which had to subcontract being prohibited, intervention of the contractors in the drafting of the specifications and the contract and lack of budgetary allocation for the aforementioned expense.

The sentence of the National Court condemned 19 defendants, for different crimes of prevarication, embezzlement, fraud to the Administration, falsification of official documents, money laundering and crime against the Public Treasury, some as authors, others as necessary cooperators,

  • National Court
  • Valence
  • Juan Cotino
  • Francisco Correa
  • Supreme Court
  • Justice

According to The Trust Project criteria

Learn more