The First Section of the Provincial Court of Málaga was due to hear the case on Tuesday 8 and Wednesday 9 October. Manilva’s court cases continue to drag on in the courts more than 14 years after proceedings began, and there has now been another postponement. On this occasion, the death of a close relative of one of the defendants is the reason for the delay, and the new dates have been set for 7 November and 12 December.
We recall that these separate strands of the «Manilva Case» put on trial the former mayor Antonia Muñoz, the former cleaning councillor Paqui López, the current legal adviser to the Town Hall Aitor Menoyo, and the former councillors Antonio de Haro and Emilio López, for the offences of misuse of public office and embezzlement, over alleged irregularities in the transfer of municipal funds to the El Hacho urban development body when Muñoz was mayor.
14 YEARS IN THE COURTS
The events date back to 2008, when the Entidad Urbanística Colaboradora de Conservación del Complejo Residencial El Hacho was established, the largest residential development in the municipality, located next to Puerto de la Duquesa.
In his written submission, the prosecutor states that both the mayor and some members of the Town Hall’s governing board ordered, or helped to approve with their vote, transactions through which the El Hacho urban development body was financed with public money from the Town Hall.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office is also demanding that the defendants and the El Hacho urban development body compensate Manilva Town Hall with 217,159 euros, the amount allegedly embezzled.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office is initially seeking eight years in prison for the former mayor, accusing her of these offences on a continuing basis, while for the former mayor and four other people it requests four years in prison and 17 years of disqualification from public employment or office.
An adviser is also accused, for whom the public prosecutor requests a sentence of seven years in prison.
