Legal troubles for the Mayor of Motril, Luisa García Chamorro, are growing as the Public Prosecutor now believes that there is a basis for corruption charges.

For this reason, he has ordered a criminal investigation into her using public money to cover her legal expenses and the fine that she was ordered to pay after being found guilty of slander.

It appears that she used municipal funding for her party to cover the costs of something that she was personally responsible for; i.e., she had stood trial in a personal quality; not her party.

Using party funding, she made three payments from the party bank account, totalling 4,600 euros with the assistance of another PP councillor who had co-access to the account. The majority of the money, 4,000 was to cover the fine she had to pay and the rest was for court expenses.

When this became known publicly (thanks to leaked documents from somebody within her own party) she reimbursed the public coffers with 4,000 euros and then asked the Department of Municipal Accounting to clarify whether what she had done was illegal.

In the meantime, the Department of Municipal Accounting belonging to the Town Hall has already issued a report with an unfavourable reading of the Mayor’s use of public funds.

If it goes to trial and she is found guilty, she will face a prison sentence of between two to six years and barring from holding a public post.

The Mayor made false claims in November 2011 against the ex-Director of Visogsa; a company dealing with housing for the Granada Provincial Council.

Editorial comment: out of the frying pan….

(News: Motril, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia – Photo: Granadahoy)