The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court has ratified the sentence of 23 months in prison imposed on the employer Miguel Concepcion for continued crime of aggravated fraud in the bonuses granted by the public administration to residents of the Canary Islands for flights, as well as the 8-month prison sentence corresponding to two daughters as accomplices of the crime.
The ruling of the Provincial Court of Tenerife also establishes that the three defendants must indemnify the General State Administration (Ministry of Public Works) in the amount of 3,987,769.07 euros, of which Miguel Concepción will be responsible for 50% and his two daughters at 25% each, jointly and severally liable for their share and subsidiary to the author’s and the author’s for theirs.
The proven facts indicate, among other things, that between November 2007 and April 2011, the amount paid as bonuses by the extinct company Islas Airways that operated inter-island flights amounted to 47,260,839.58 euros.
According to the sentence, Miguel Concepción, in his capacity as president, and with the intention of receiving from the Ministry of Public Works amounts greater than those that would have corresponded by virtue of the Royal Decree and therefore obtaining an undue patrimonial benefit, devised and adopted decisions with the collaboration of his daughters, Eloísa Concepción Rodríguez and Verónica Concepción Rodríguez, as members of the board of directors.
The story adds that the defendants, during the years 2008 to 2011, “sent flight files and certifications that appeared to be correct and had documentary support, which allowed them to pass routine controls, when in reality they lacked support or did not respond to reality, thus achieving bonuses higher than those actually owed under the terms required by the Royal Decree and the Subsidies Law, for an amount of 8,399,180.32 euros”.
Rejection of the appeal
The high court detailed in a note that it dismissed the appeal of the three convicted persons and considered correct the classification as a crime of fraud aggravated by the amount, committed by those who controlled a travel agency, simulating inter-island trips to the Canary Islands and obtaining the official bonuses granted the administration to the residents of the islands to help them with their air travel.
According to the Supreme Court, everything was “false” and apparently and formally documented to overcome the routine controls of the Ministry of Public Works, obtaining a large sum for the damage caused to the administration.
The Supreme Court, in a ruling for which Judge Julián Sánchez-Melgar has been the rapporteur, also dismisses the request that the mitigation of undue delays appreciated in the case be considered highly qualified.
In this sense, it recalls that, although it was also requested by the Public Prosecutor in the instance, the Court opted for the position held by the private prosecution (Ministry of Public Works) and the popular prosecution (Binter). Likewise, it considers that the total duration of the process, of 8 years, and the fact that there have been no delays beyond some of 9 months, determined by the preparation of reports and by the classification of the facts, understandable due to the complexity of the cause, They do not allow the stoppage to be classified as extraordinary.
