Alex Trelinski
THE former Valencian president, Eduardo Zaplana, has been jailed for 10 years and five months for corruption, bribery, and money laundering.
He’s been ordered to repay €25 million earned from personal kick-backs from rigged contract awards for privatised ITV concessions.
A Valencia court also convicted businessmen Juan and Vicente Cotino, Zaplana’s former chief of staff, Juan Francisco Garcia, and Zaplana’s close friend and spokesperson, Joaquin Barcelo.
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A whole set of appeals are likely to be launched to delay or even stop Zaplana from being imprisoned, with his state of health likely to be an issue.
Eduardo Zaplana, 68, was Benidorm’s mayor between 1991 and 1995.
He then became Valencian president in 1995 and resigned in 2002 to take up a cabinet position as Labour Minister in the Partido Popular government led by Jose Maria Aznar.
Prosecutors described Zaplana as a ‘professional politician’ who formed a ‘group of close people in order to obtain illicit benefits’ thanks to his status.
The trial showed there was no documentation to support the privatisation of ITV services in the Valencia region and that the contracting process was undertaken purely with ‘political staff’.
ITV contracts went to Juan Cotino’s company with Cotino being a former police chief.
Bungs to Zaplana were routed to Luxembourg and Andorra, before returning to Spain- having been laundered in the purchase of houses, apartments, land, boats, and watches.
€25 million was shown to be linked to Zaplana and documents proved there were €6 million of transfers to a private bank in Andorra.
He was arrested in May 2018 and four years later said that ‘he looked forward’ to presenting evidence at his trial to prove his innocence
