Two new revelations in the Azud case about the alleged payment of commissions to public officials from the PP and PSOE to favor the awarding of contracts, mainly linked to urban planning, between 1999 and 2013, focused especially on the City Council of Valencia, although there are several branches affecting other institutions and municipalities.
On one hand, a report from the Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard related to separate piece number 7 of the case, which investigates the PAI ‘El Espartal” of Xixona, certifies payments of 615,823 euros to the PSPV-PSOE and 87,264 to the PP for electoral expenses by construction companies investigated in this macro-case.
On the other hand, the UCO has also provided the court with new information about meetings that the former Urban Planning councilor of Valencia and current general director of Transparency of the Generalitat, Jorge Bellver, from the PP, held with the investigated businessman Jaime Febrer in “leisure venues” and company headquarters to discuss urban planning matters. And again it links the former councilor closest to Rita Barberá with the receipt of “gifts,” such as watches worth 2,000 or 3,000 euros, to influence urban planning procedures. The brother-in-law of the former mayor (who died in 2016), lawyer José María Corbín, is also one of the main defendants.
A report, accessed by EFE, investigates the signing of the agreement between the state public company Aguas de las cuencas mediterráneas (ACUAMED) and the Alicante City Council of Xixona, whose objective was the expansion of the Mutxamel-Campello desalination plant, so that the increased production would supply the town of Xixona.
The UCO points out that the signing of the agreement was sponsored by the Axis Group, of businessman Jaime Febrer, under investigation, and for this it mainly relied on lawyer José Luis Vera, a person closely linked to the PSOE and who, “apparently, based on this close link, would have developed capabilities over various administrative procedures through third parties.”
Together with the director of Institutional Relations of Acuamed, Joan Navarro, they would have “enabled” the signing of this agreement, which allowed the continuation of the administrative processing of the PAI, which until then was paralyzed due to the inability to justify the existence of water resources.
As compensation for this activity, the payment of a commission of two million euros would have been agreed upon, identifying payments whose alleged recipients would be, among others, José Luis Vera – for an amount of 563,500 euros – and the PSOE for an amount of 615,823 euros.
The part of this commission that would have been destined for the PSOE would have been paid by covering various services to different advertising and communication companies for the benefit of the Socialist Party, which saved these expenses in the 2007 and 2008 electoral campaigns.
The UCO report also points out that the Axis Group also assumed other electoral expenses for the PP candidacy presented by Rosa María Verdú in the municipal elections in Xixona in May 2007. From the PAI ‘El Espartal’, in total, from the Axis Group, 87,264 euros would have been paid to a company of the Engloba Group, for the payment of the electoral campaign work of the Popular Party of Xixona carried out by this company.
Additionally, the UCO again links Bellver with the receipt of “gifts” to influence urban planning procedures that benefited investigated construction companies. The name of Jorge Bellver already appeared in the case file as a recipient of gifts from a supposedly corrupt organization dedicated to rigging urban planning operations.
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Specifically, he would have received several watches worth between 2,000 and 3,000 euros, champagne, or luxury suitcases, as stated in the case file. Bellver was called to testify on November 17 for these facts but invoked his right not to do so.
The new report recently presented to the court concerns the urban planning process of the El Grao area of Valencia and is an extension of a previous report from April 2021. The construction companies of the Axis Group (of businessman Febrer) hired as mediator in this operation the law firm of José María Corbín, brother-in-law of the then (2009) mayor of Valencia, Rita Barberá.
Corbín – who appears as a commission agent in other urban planning negotiations included in this macro-case – would have received as a result of this urban planning operation a total of 224,116 euros between 2007 and 2012, according to the UCO. “As in most of the other investigated operations, these payments to Corbín Abogados would have been materialized by creating a fictitious contracting and invoicing framework,” the report states.
“In this urban planning operation, considering also its lengthy administrative processing and its impact on different levels and bodies of the public administration, the Axis Group would have counted on the participation of other public officials or persons linked to them,” it adds. “This is precisely the investigated dynamic: the Axis Group, through the payment of commissions of an illicit nature or the delivery of other types of gifts to different public officials or persons linked to them, would have developed significant capabilities to influence the administrative procedures in which it had economic interests,” always according to the Civil Guard investigators.
In the specific case of the urban development of the El Grao area of Valencia, the analysis carried out shows that, with the aim of “enabling” its administrative processing, contacts would have been maintained with José Luis Vera – lawyer and former legal manager of Divalterra -, Rafael Rubio – former socialist spokesperson and former deputy government delegate in Valencia -, José María Cataluña – former finance manager of the PSPV-PSOE -, Jorge Bellver and Carlos Masía – former manager of Aumsa -.
The Civil Guard reproduces in its report several notes from Febrer’s agenda in which appointments with Bellver were recorded with various matters to be addressed, all related to the urban plan to be developed in the El Grao area.
Additionally, the investigators inform the court of “another series of meetings, in which Jorge Bellver also participates, which for different reasons are considered to have taken place outside the formality of the previous ones.” “This is inferred from the fact that they take place in leisure venues or company headquarters, correspond to meals or phone calls. However, in some of these meetings, matters related to Bellver’s professional performance were also addressed,” according to the UCO report.
Finally, it is highlighted that Jaime Febrer has stored the email contact related to Bellver with notes such as the address of his mother’s house or that of his mother-in-law “for gifts.”
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