They have only agreed to undergo the calligraphic test commissioned by the instructor
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE/MADRID, June 29 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The former socialist deputy Juan Bernardo Fuentes Curbelo, alias ‘Tito Berni’ and his nephew, Taishet Fuentes Gutiérrez, have accepted their right not to testify in the appearance this Thursday before the judge of Santa Cruz de Tenerife who is investigating the ‘case Mediator’, agreeing only to submit to the calligraphic test that the instructor had commissioned, according to legal sources consulted by Europa Press
Taishet Fuentes was the first to arrive at the Palace of Justice, accompanied by his lawyer, at around 09:00; while his uncle – also with his lawyer and a person he trusted – has come shortly before 10:00. In his case, both at the entrance and at the exit he has suffered an escrache by the striking justice officials.
It is the second time that the Fuentes appear before magistrate María de los Ángeles Lorenzo-Cáceres. In his statement on February 22, ‘Tito Berni’ denied being part of the leadership of the alleged plot, although he acknowledged that his company received European aid – without clarifying the amounts or in what period – when asked by the judge if “during” his tenure as director of Ganadería de Canarias “he intervened in any file related to his company”.
For his part, Fuentes Gutiérrez, who testified days before before the head of the Investigating Court Number 4 of Santa Cruz de Tenerife –on February 16–, assured Lorenzo-Cáceres that he was “used” by the Canarian businessman Antonio Navarro Tacoronte, the alleged ‘mediator’, while completely distanced himself from the alleged plot.
For this Thursday, the two positions of the Government of the Canary Islands who appear as being investigated in the case for the alleged commission of a crime of revealing secrets and prevarication were also summoned –the vice-councillor of the Primary Sector, Álvaro de la Bárcena, and the head of Service of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Margarita González–, but the judge postponed her declaration to July 12.
THE DAUGHTERS OF JOSÉ ‘EL DRONES’
On Wednesday, the judge heard Marta and Aranxa Suárez, the daughters of the investigated businessman José Suárez Esteve, nicknamed ‘El Drones’ because of the plot, who ratified their father’s version, assuring that Navarro Tacoronte defrauded them of about 46,000 euros, according to legal sources consulted by Europa Press.
However, they also gave some other detail hitherto unknown. Specifically, they said that they came to meet with Fuentes Gutiérrez and with the then general director of the Canary Islands Health Service, Conrado Domínguez.
Lorenzo-Cáceres called both after the agents of the Internal Affairs Service of the Civil Guard pointed out in one of their reports that, in January 2021, Marta received a WhatsApp message from Navarro Tacoronte with the number of a bank account that so did his father.
According to said report, the daughter of ‘El Drones’ responded to that message with a photograph of a computer screen in which there was a “proof of transfer of the same day” to an account that, according to the database of the Tax Agency, would be owned by a couple now investigated.
It should be remembered that before the Canary Islands court, José Suárez Esteve himself declared that he was being investigated. The businessman assured that Navarro Tacoronte defrauded him of 46,000 euros with the promise of setting up a drone sales company in the Canary Islands.
THE INVESTIGATION
This week’s statements are the latest movement in the ‘Mediator case’, where the existence of an alleged plot led by the Fuentes, Navarro Tacoronte and retired Civil Guard general Francisco Espinosa is being investigated, who would have been in charge of attracting businessmen by promising favors politicians for money.
According to the judicial investigation, it was a criminal organization “formed mainly by three pillars and a clear link between all those investigated”, which would have “a perfectly structured and defined hierarchy, with a clear division of functions and dedicated to the commission of crimes related to corruption such as bribery and influence peddling”.
The interrogations will take place shortly after the judge agreed to extend the patrimonial investigation to the wife of Taishet Fuentes Gutiérrez, considering that “regarding Yeneba Calero’s account, there is a huge number of bizum operations with her husband” which, in her opinion , “must be analyzed to “verify” if it could “receive payments of illicit origin.”
