This Tuesday, the Socialist Group within the Cabildo of Tenerife reminded the public that it was during Pedro Martín’s presidency of the insular corporation in the previous legislature when Gildo Hernández, the then manager of Casinos de Tenerife, faced dismissal after being convicted of prevarication. His removal on November 4 followed an audit of several years’ accounts of the entity where various irregularities were identified, as stated by the PSOE.
The PSOE issued these remarks after this publication reported on Monday that Gildo Hernández Rodríguez submitted his resignation letter on the 4th after being found guilty of committing an administrative prevarication crime connected to the awarding of several contracts. Hernández has already filed an appeal with the court and the Provincial Court (he had ten days to do so following a ruling signed on October 11) and is currently facing a 9-year disqualification “from holding any employment or public office in respect of each of the crimes, alongside the obligation to cover the procedural costs incurred.”
The PSOE clarified that the reasons for the loss of confidence by the then governing group in this manager, who had been in office since 2000, included not only a prior complaint resulting in the disqualification judgement but also the discovery of hundreds of thousands of euros in expenses linked to invitations in the casinos operated by the Cabildo of Tenerife, as well as a human resources practice deemed irregular by the then government of the Cabildo.
Specifically, this pertained to the dismissal of employees nearing retirement, enabling them to receive substantial severance payments from public funds shortly before their retirement status began. These matters were referred to the Prosecutor’s Office, although they were ultimately shelved.
The leader of the Socialist Group indicated that upon assuming control of the island’s government, he encountered an extensive and unwieldy network of public companies which, he feared, could undermine control mechanisms over entities that remain part of the island’s public sector. Therefore, efforts were undertaken to streamline and privatise these entities to prevent such situations involving public resources from arising.
