Council credit cards cancelled

PALMA
PALMA Council has cancelled two credit cards used by the Municipal Institute for Sport (IME) and the Municipal Transport Company (EMT) in the wake of the de Santos case.

Javier Rodrigo de Santos, a former PP councillors and political head of Palma Council's planning department, is charged with embezzlement of public funds after it was learned he had allegedly used a council credit card during visits to gay bars.

The decision to cancel credit cards used by IME and EMT was taken just days after the de Santos case broke.
At a press conference yesterday, the councillor in charge of municipal finance, Andreu Alcover, said that the two Visa cards had been used to pay for work lunches and parking.

He said that a card used by the head of administration at the Municipal Institute for Innovoation to pay for imported software had not been cancelled. He said this was the only way the institute could pay for software being imported from other countries.

The card that was in the possession of the EMT, Fuensanta París, was used for working lunches, to pay for parking and for hotels during trips related to work. It had a monthly limit of 1'500 euros though this was never reached.

The card belonging to the president of the IME, Baldomero Oliver, which was cancelled on Monday, had a limit of 3'000 euros.
According to Alcover, from now on, both París and Oliver will now have to pay for their expenses out of their own pocket and will be recompensed later by the council.

He said this system would result in greater security.
Between 2005 and 2007 de Santos is alleged to have spent more than 50'000 euros using the credit card belonging to the Municipal Company for Public Works (EMOP).

Alcover said that the limits on expenses would not be different.
He added that the cancellation of the credit cards was the council's first measure to prevent a case of this kind arising again but that others were being considered.