The PP censures that the Government has not gone to court and CC-PNC blames Julio Pérez and Antonio Olivera
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 20 May. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Minister of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, Blas Trujillo, has affirmed this Friday that the Executive is not going to “give up” until it recovers the four million euros allegedly swindled by the company RR7 United with a batch of one million FPP3 masks that never they surrendered
In an appearance at his own request in a parliamentary commission, he has stated that “there is not a single moment” in which the Canarian public administration has not acted to execute the contract and has advanced that the judicial route will be studied if criminal indications are found, especially the lifting of assets.
In this line, he has commented that through the Canary Islands Tax Agency up to ten embargoes have already been ordered on the company to recover the money – the debt already reaches 4.8 million – but so far they have been “unsuccessful” .
The counselor has insisted that there has been no “abandonment” in the functions of the Ministry and that there is “maximum collaboration” with the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, which has opened proceedings for alleged crimes of prevarication and embezzlement of public funds.
He recalled that the events occurred in April 2020 at a time when the world market for medical devices is “extremely competitive” and the Canary Islands compete with the rest of the world to obtain “scarce and necessary” goods, in a “fight fierce” for merchandise that motivated, even, the seizure of material if the planes made stopovers in third countries.
Trujillo has pointed out that the contracting procedure complied with the Royal Decree approved by the central government that allowed the emergency route and in fact, he has pointed out that this is the only SCS contract that has incidents.
He pointed out that in April there was an “absolute need” to obtain medical supplies because the stock in the autonomous community was barely six weeks old and many companies could not go to the market, others could only access small quantities and some offered “very expensive” prices. “.
At that time, he detailed, the company RR7 United offered a mask model, validated by the prevention services of the autonomous community, at a price of four euros per unit, in line with what was set by the national health institute, so given “the go-ahead”.
The order, he commented, is made on May 25, 2020 and half is paid on August 27.
Subsequently, on October 28, the SCS requires the material and the supplier says that “he needs all the money because there are auctions” in the market and for this reason, another two million are paid on October 19.
Finally, on January 15, the intermediary of the operation communicates by letter that they cannot carry out the supply, so the General Directorate of Economic Resources initiates the contract resolution file on February 1.
However, the counselor pointed out, the company reported that the masks arrived in Gran Canaria from Ethiopia but were incinerated by Customs Inspection since they did not comply with European certifications.
On June 29, Trujillo continued, the company contacts the SCS and offers masks “of the same level” to be able to cancel the embargo procedure, but the condition is set that it must increase the item to 1.2 million, of in such a way that the cost per mask drops to 3.30 euros, and deliver them in a week.
However, they failed to comply again and the file for reimbursement of the funds continued its course.
THE ADMINISTRATIVE ROUTE, FASTER THAN THE CRIMINAL
Trujillo has pointed out that the Government has opted for the administrative route because “it is faster” to recover the money, “it is the first of Law”, but has made it clear that it is also working in judicial channels if the embargoes do not bear fruit.
He has accused the opposition of “looking for big game” with the mask contract when the competition was from the managing committee of the health crisis and also questioned the complainant, a businessman “who shoots at everything that moves.”
The spokeswoman for the Mixed Group, Vidina Espino, recalled that Spain was confined in April 2020 and in a “state of panic” due to the thousands of deaths that were infected by the administrations, who made “crazy purchases”.
He lamented that the central government did not centralize the purchase of medical supplies — “it got out of the way” — so the pandemic became “every man for himself” since there were no controls and the contract law was not complied with public.
Jesús Ramos (ASG) recalled that the situation at that time was “uncertain” and the important thing “was to save people’s lives”, which forced him to undertake certain contracts to bring medical supplies to the islands.
María del Río (Yes We Can) has pointed out that it is “angry” that the Canary Islands have suffered this fraud due to some “scoundrels” who “have taken advantage” of a very complicated health situation to “do business and make money”.
He has indicated that the money is “disappeared” and believes that now “the important thing” is to know what the Government is going to do in the face of this “outrage, deceit and infamy”, stressing that these things “could happen again” in the future.
THE IMPORTANT THING IS TO RECOVER THE MONEY, ACCORDING TO NC
Esther González (NC) has commented that the management of the file has been “correct” by the SCS, indicating that “a stir beyond all logic” has been created given that there have been no relatives of the Government acting as intermediaries and the facts were in 2020, when there was a shortage of health products due to a “disrupted” global demand.
He commented that the decision to provide masks to health centers was “correct”, as was the form of payment, in compliance with the royal decree law, while pointing out that “the important thing” was to recover the money and not an action penal.
Fernando Enseñat (PP) has commented that Trujillo is trying to “cover up” the Canarian president before next week’s plenary session, criticizing that a year and a half later “it is not known where the money and the masks are.”
He has rejected why a contract is agreed with an automotive company that did not have technical or financial solvency and has asked “who decided” that all the money be paid before receiving the masks.
Likewise, he has said that he does not understand that the Government has not gone to court “before a possible scam” and pointed out that this case is similar to the ‘Tindaya case’ because “public money disappears and nobody responds”.
LACK OF TRANSPARENCY FOR CC-PNC
José Alberto Díaz-Estébanez (CC-PNC) has commented that the case “doesn’t look good” despite the fact that the market was “a jungle” at that time, accusing Trujillo of using “squid ink” to hide that four million euros “have flown”.
He has charged against the “lack of transparency” of the regional government, which has led this case to an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, and questioned the fact that a “car company” was chosen without endorsement or economic guarantees, that was paid in advance in two payments and the Director General of Economic Resources has been dismissed without giving explanations –Trujillo has specified that it was at his own request–.
In addition, he has stressed that this management should be attributed to the acting Minister of Health, Julio Pérez, and the provisional director of the SCS, Antonio Olivera.
Marcos Hernández (PSOE) recalled that at that time “the market was stressed” due to a shortage of health products and therefore emergency contracting was activated, indicating that the management carried out by the SCS to resolve the contract gives him “peace of mind” .
