The Provincial council of Barcelona drifted to the faithful of CDC at least two million cooperation

Such is the amount of irregularities detected in the subsidies for the Third World that the Provincial council of Barcelona granted between 2011 and 2015, that makes us think that went in reality to the private activities or purposes “non-cooperation to the international development of poor communities”. is holds It in a car the judge of Barcelona, which investigates the fate of a million euros in grants during the presidency of Salvador Esteve pujol (CiU) , in a cause in which you are charged about fifty persons, most of them the orbit converged.

The judge attributed to them crimes, d e embezzlement of public funds, prevarication and influence peddling , among others. According to they explained sources of the research, a part of the cause, still under secrecy, asks about whether part of these funds were diverted to cover the procés independentista.

Inputs and records

The files found in the logs that the Unit of Economic Crime and Fiscal (Udef) practiced in may of 2018 in the Provincial council, and in various entities –operation Wake– make it clear that in the division of grants and contracts, there was “a breach rather rude of the administrative procedure”, holds Joaquín Aguirre, holder of the Court of Instruction 1 of Barcelona, that directs the research. That not respected the procedures, as suggested by an anonymous complaint from the one that precipitated the investigation, it seems clear.

it Now remains to see if it eventually did the work for those going to the funds –even though their lease was spot– or if these Ngos were in reality a mere pipe so that the funds end up in the pockets of those involved in the plot; or for other purposes, such as the procés independentista. , And accumulates the evidence to believe that many of the funds that were to serve for development projects in the Maghreb, Honduras, or the Easter island never reached their destination.

The researchers located at the top of the frame to Jordi Castells , then director of international relations of the Provincial council and now fished as deputy director for Local Cooperation of the Generalitat. Managed his department with an iron hand, as reported to the National Police workers of the ente provincial, to ensure that this high office required it to issue favourable opinions on the granting of subsidies to entities of the orbit converged, some linked to mayors of the PDECat, although it does not comply with the requirements. Below Castells, in the organization chart, it was Jonathan Jorba, according to the workers, “the expertise” of the director, which was in compliance with his orders “without questioning its legality and without protection in no time to the technicians who issued dissenting opinions”.

In their witnesses, collected in the summary that it has had access to ABC, these technicians underpin the thesis of the researchers on the rigging of the contracts with the entities “favorite” of Castells. One of the workers tells us that among the sisters spoke often of these entities and “preferred” of Castells, that this high office favored “forcing the change of scores of the assessments” and forcing the heads of office to sign resolutions “against their will” according to the statement of a witness. “The feeling was that there were powerful political interests behind these awards”, explains another technician under the orders of Castells. “You had to maintain these subsidies at all costs”, agreed to tell the Police the workers.

Entities suspected

there Are a total of 28 grants being investigated, the majority for projects of cooperation with the Third World . Many were awarded to those entities that witnesses explained to the Police that they were the “favorite” of the alleged head of the plot. Among them, CatMón, an entity that is in principle designed to enhance the international recognition of Catalonia, of which Víctor Terradellas, the former secretary of international relations of convergence and union, was president and founder. Also made reference to the witnesses to the NGO humanitarian action Igman, led by the now deputy JpC in the Catalan Parliament Francesc Dalmases. Both entities, of which both founders, were supposedly, according to the Udef, “a mere cover for the protection of private business”.

researchers cast doubt on how much money this game is dedicated effectively to the co-operation and if there was a “percent diverted”. Dalmases and Terradellas formed, according to the researchers, a network for the diversion of the subsidies, as they might have done, for example, with funds for the edition of the magazine Catalan International View. That money allegedly ended up in the pockets of both for particular expenses.

Two witnesses, in addition, pointed to the Police the privileged tax treatment Dalmases received in the department of International Relations of the Diputació , which with an iron hand ran Castells. On one occasion, ten minutes after holding a meeting with the representative of Igman, a worker received a call from Castells saying that he had phoned “from above” to say that he had “treated very badly” to Igman. Another worker explained that a day Dalmases went to the Provincial council to meet with Castells, after that this is addressed to technicians urging them to “resolve the matter without disturbing the beneficiary entity”, as stated in the summary.

Accumulation of irregularities

The researchers also point to Joaquim Ferrer, with multiple connections with convergence and union, and the sole manager of Sestrategic , an entity devoted to projects of internationalisation. Ferrer was “recurrently encouraged through grants and contracts” of the county Council and there is a “high probability” that public funds have been diverted for the personal benefit of, says the Udef. He had worked for CiU from 1996 to 1999, and in the ministry of Labour of the government of 2000 to 2003.

Reports without signature; justifications “insufficient” of the contracts; payment of the grants before they approve the projects; reports of “cut and paste”; entities created shortly before the receipt of the funds; invoices of flights and hotels abroad for more than ten days… be filling the irregularities in the records of subsidies that would be allocated to cooperation projects in the Third World. The research will clarify if it is confirmed by the evidence that the protagonists of the plot profited from these public funds, and if part of the same fueled by the procés independentista.