The Santa Cruz de Tenerife Prosecutor’s Office has retracted the allegations during the second hearing of the trial concerning purported fraud in the awarding of the kiosk Strasse Park located in García Sanabria Park. The administrator of the initial concessionaire faces accusations of transferring the concession without notifying the new proprietors that the electricity supply was unlawful and had amassed bills nearing 90,000 euros, which have now escalated to 150,000 euros.
The Public Ministry contends that we can only refer to a misrepresentation, considering that the new concessionaires failed to settle even the 82,000 euros owed for the initial electricity phase or to undertake the necessary work costing 75,000 euros to rectify the “illegal” connection involving the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the “truly accountable” party for the situation is the local authority, which not only permitted this kiosk’s connection to the municipal network “despite the associated risks and in violation of the regulations,” but has also failed to recover the overdue electricity bills or ensure that the required works are executed.
The only liability that the owners would incur pertains to the last four years of electricity due under their concession, which remains valid, although it is yet to be determined who will take responsibility for the new connection.
The prosecutor attributed the charges to a mistake made by the individual who formulated the initial document and believes that the dispute could have been resolved swiftly through civil litigation rather than the current criminal proceedings.
Nonetheless, the concessionaires maintain their demand to be reimbursed the disparity between the amount they paid and an auditor’s assessment, which lies between roughly 130,000 and 160,000 euros. They also seek a three-year prison sentence for the administrator.
In this recent session, experts, including the architect responsible for the project, testified, stating that the new owners were never previously informed about the existence of this debt or the necessity of undertaking the works, estimated to cost 75,000 euros, of which the local Corporation had never raised an issue.
An economist calculated that the total electricity expenditure since the kiosk’s inauguration in 2015 up to its transfer in 2021 does not actually exceed 11,000 euros, of which a negligible amount would have required payment since municipal debts expire after four years.
However, the prosecutor pointed out that this timeframe is interrupted when the debt is acknowledged, as occurred in this instance, while the private prosecution referenced other debts with financial institutions of which their clients were also not informed.
Another expert concluded that the value of the concession stood at 323,000 euros, the price that was paid, rather than the 600,000 euros claimed by the sellers.
Interestingly, on Monday, the first day of the trial, the City Council announced a tender for the concession for an additional ten years.
