The Executive is going to send the court information on aid since 2016 and for now it does not observe “irregularities” with European funds
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 16 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Government of the Canary Islands, Alicia Vanoostende, has announced this Thursday the start of an internal investigation to review the management stage of the two former General Directors of Livestock, Taishet Fuentes and her uncle Juan Bernardo Fuentes, implicated in an alleged network related to irregularities in the management of European aid and that also charged commissions in exchange for stopping inspections in the livestock subsector.
In a press conference held after the Governing Council, in which she was accompanied by the spokesman for the Executive, Julio Pérez, she said that they have “no record” that there have been irregularities but they want to “review everything to find out if it complies with regulations” for which they are going to use the legal services of the Ministry itself, the General Intervention of the Autonomous Community and even the possibility of undertaking an external audit.
Pérez has even pointed out that the Government is considering appearing legally in the case opened by Court Number 4 of Santa Cruz de Tenerife “when technically feasible” and if it is shown that there is damage to the regional coffers.
The counselor has acknowledged that she found out about the case this Tuesday when the first arrests were made and has not hidden her “displeasure and concern” with this alleged corruption plot after “complicated and very difficult” years for the livestock subsector as a result of the pandemic and especially the Ukraine war and rising costs.
“We are the first to be interested in clarification,” he pointed out, stressing that they are already preparing to send all the information requested by the court, which has requested data on aid and subsidies received by some farmers since 2016. “We want to be as quick as possible possible,” he added.
However, he explained that the procedures for European aid and its control have “different filters”, both for the beneficiaries and for the paying agency, with administrative and on-the-spot controls, audits by the General Comptroller of the autonomous community or even “missions ” of the European Commission to certify and inspect the beneficiaries.
MANY FILTERS WITH EUROPEAN FUNDS
“There are multiple filters to verify that good use is made of European funds and each procedure is carried out by different civil servant teams to seek that independence and good use of funds,” he indicated.
Vanoostende has taken advantage of his presence before the journalists to make an appeal to the Canarian farmers in the sense that “if anyone has had any problem of possible extortion or fraud” that they inform the judicial authority or the Government itself “to facilitate the investigation”.
He has said that no information has reached them about the alleged plot and the associations themselves have positioned themselves in the same direction but they have insisted that “if there is something” they want it to be notified. “It has to come out,” she said.
The counselor has also said that the dismissal of Tayshet Fuentes in June last year was due to a “lack of confidence and a management problem” given that there was a “very complex” moment in the primary sector and there was a lack of “competent skills “.
For this reason, it was understood that “another profile” was needed, as has happened with the dismissal of other senior government officials. “It is not the first time that there is a dismissal in the Government, it is a management issue,” he pointed out.
