Maria Munar arriving for a court hearing.

Maria Munar arriving for a court hearing. | Atienza - EFE

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma02/05/2016 00:00
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The former leadership of the now defunct Unió Mallorquina (UM) party has only paid the Council of Majorca 115,000 euros of the 12 million euros it has to pay by way of compensation for the so-called "caso Can Domenge".

According to a ruling by the Supreme Court, three ex-UM members are liable to pay 3.4 million euros each. They are the former president of the Council, Maria Antònia Munar, the one-time vice-president and also former regional tourism minister, Miquel Nadal, and the ex-councillor for land, Bartomeu Vicens. In addition, the former councillor for economic affairs, Miquel Àngel Flaquer, is liable for 1.8 million euros. The Council says that the 115,000 euros relates to one of these four.

To these payments by politicians, there was also 750,000 euros to be paid by the building firm Construcciones Pedro Ferra Tur and three million by the developers Sacresa. In 2014, the owner of Sacresa, Ramón Sanahuja, paid the Council two million euros; this allowed him to avoid going to jail. Over the past couple of years a further 980,000 euros have been retrieved from these companies. Consequently, the Council has taken in over three million of the almost 16 million under a 2014 ruling which established that land had been sold at below its market value.

This money has been allocated to social services by the Council, and there have been additional amounts in respect of another case - "caso Video U". Munar has paid 110,000 euros and the former director of communication when the UM ran the Council, Margalida Sotomayor, has paid 10,000 euros. The money is specifically going towards the aid schemes for families with children and for minimum income.

There may be further revenue coming the Council's way from other current trials related to alleged corruption. At the end of March, thirteen accused went to court over the "caso Peaje", and it was stated that they would be liable to pay 19 million euros plus interest as a way of reducing sentences.

This particular case had to do with the supposed embezzlement of public funds for construction work on the Palma-Manacor road during the 2007-2011 period of administration. The Council is seeking a total of sixty years in prison for the accused plus the 19 million for an alleged diversion of funds that amounted to 41.9 million euros.

A further case - "caso Son Oms" - could also result in payments to the Council.