If there is one thing that is liable to lose the regional elections for the socialists (PSOE) it is the scandal of the ERE. Now this is staggeringly scandalous, even in a country where corruption appears to be an Olympic sport. Read on…
Juan Francisco Trujillo was the official driver for the now ex-Director General for the Ministry of Work for the Junta de Andalucia. During the three years that he held this position, he and his boss, Francisco Javier Guerrero, allegedly helped themselves to public funds to supply themselves with cocaine, amongst other ‘perks.’
The driver is now in custody after admitting to 12 other crimes other than those that he was formally charged with. Perhaps the alleged bit might sound a mite superfluous, yet, until a judge actually says, “You’re guilty, Boyo,” regardless of what you admit to, it’s still ‘alleged’ in newsprint.
Yet the driver and his boss are only two people amongst nearly 50 that have been charged and when we talk about a coke habit funded by taxpayers, we’re talking about 25,000 euros a month spent on drugs and parties.
According to the Public Prosecutor, the driver set up two bogus companies – in cahoots with his boss – so that they could receive public grants. With the bank guarantees based on these grants, worth 900,000 euros, they bought a flat in Sevilla, a farm in Andujar… and a partridge in a pear tree. They then sold the farm purchased for 69,000 and sold it in 2011 for 213,000 handsome euros.
The dynamic duo then went for a third grant, included a mate of the chauffeur for yet another bogus company. Money was then handed to the boss via the chauffeur from the friend, which was used to buy antiques, clothes mega-guapo mobile phones, drinks and coke… and we don’t mean Cola.
The chauffeur explained before the judge that when they needed money for drugs, a false pre-retirement policy was signed, using the personal identity number of the driver’s mother, whose signature the doting son forged, and hey presto, another 122,649 euros fell into their audacious laps.
And it just goes on, and on, and on. The PSOE is desperately trying to convince voters for the March 25th regional elections that they knew nothing of this and when they did get wind of it, they went straight to the police themselves, but the opposition, up to their eyeballs in corruption cases themselves, are using the Caso ERE as a bloody great stick, and more than likely, to great effect.
(News: Sevilla, Andalucia)