The public prosecutor's office has filed an indictment focusing on the financial management of the San Fernando Shopping Center, located in the tourist town of San Bartolomé de Tirajana. The preliminary investigation, conducted by the local Court of Instruction Number 3, points to an alleged systematic misappropriation of EU funds through the mass issuance of false invoices or invoices for services that were never actually provided to the company between 2012 and September 2014.
The prosecution is directly targeting JFAQ and ECR, who held the positions of president and secretary, respectively, of the Owners' Association of the shopping complex in southern Gran Canaria. According to the prosecution, both defendants acted in concert and with a clear intent to profit from 2012 until September 30, 2014, the date on which they were removed from their positions following an extraordinary meeting convened by the quorum of residents required by the Horizontal Property Law. After that meeting, the owners elected AGH as the new president and YGV as secretary, initiating the accounting audits that uncovered the financial shortfall.
The fraudulent scheme involved simulating payments for works, maintenance, or professional services to third parties using community funds, artificially inflating costs, or issuing invoices without supporting documentation. The breakdown provided in the case details dozens of invoices charged to numerous individuals and shell companies, including names associated with the initials MdCR, AJQR, FM, JCGR, ASM, JRP, PALS, IAMdP, MRS, SRRO, and YRS. Many of these invoices repeated identical amounts in smaller installments, such as recurring charges of €360, €400, €660, or blocks of €1.631,36, continuously draining the shopping center's ordinary and extraordinary budgets.
For the prosecution, the actions of the two former officials fall squarely under the category of serious financial crimes. The acts have been provisionally classified as a continuing offense of misappropriation, as defined in Article 253.1, in conjunction with Article 250.1, sections 5 and 7, and Article 74 of the Criminal Code, due to their particular gravity and the harm they caused to multiple victims. The defendants are considered criminally responsible as the perpetrators, with no mitigating or aggravating circumstances present at the time of the events.
Given the magnitude of the economic damage caused to the commercial sector in the south of the island, the Public Prosecutor's Office requests that each of the defendants be sentenced to four years in prison, along with disqualification from holding public office for the duration of their sentence. A fine of ten months at a daily rate of €12 is also requested, subject to subsidiary personal liability in case of non-payment. Regarding civil liability, the prosecution demands that both defendants jointly and severally compensate the San Fernando Shopping Center Owners' Association in the exact amount of €173.260,57, plus applicable legal interest, while the current president, AGH, reserves the right to pursue any civil and criminal actions arising from this financial loss.
