On the 2nd of June, 2011, just before leaving office, the ex-Mayor of Cogollos Vega gave a friend 900 euros from the public purse. What are friend for, after all?

The said politician, Francisco José Luzón, ended up before the judge, not unsurprisingly – the said friend held no public office nor had carried out any task for the Town Hall that would justify such a payment.

At the end of 2014 the provincial court in Granada found the ex-mayor guilty as charged and sentenced him to one-year’s imprisonment, which is an automatic suspended sentence as it is inferior to two years.

He was also banned from holding public office for two years and ordered to reimburse the 900 euros to the town’s coffers… plus interests.

Sr. Luzón, however, decided to appeal against the sentence, arguing, amongst other points, that the recipient of the 900 euros was not his friend, but rather a local who had been out of work for a considerable amount of time; i.e., somebody in need.

Furthermore, the man had previously been employed by a company that had been hired by the Town Hall but that this company had neglected to pay him his salary or make the Social Security payments in his name

For this reason the ex-mayor considered that he was beholding to the man; hence the 900 euros.

Unfortunately for him, the provincial appeals court did not accept this explanation and instead confirmed the original court finding.

But Sr. Luzón is no stranger to adverse court findings because last year he was sentenced to 3-years’ imprisonment and barred for nine years for holding public office for forging official documents and for having permitted his sister-in-law to build a chalet with a pool on farming land, no to mention providing false documentation for the illegal house to enjoy mains water and electricity.

This above sentence is undergoing an appeal process.

(News: Cogollos Vega, Granada, Andalucia)