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The Mayor of Orihuela, Pepe Vegara. Eva Moya
The PPCV Initiates Disciplinary Proceedings Against Orihuela's Mayor Following Court Trial Commencement

The PPCV Initiates Disciplinary Proceedings Against Orihuela's Mayor Following Court Trial Commencement

Vegara to Stand Trial for Alleged Tax Fraud on the 22nd

T.A./Jesús Nicolás

Orihuela

Martes, 14 de enero 2025, 12:35

The PPCV has initiated disciplinary proceedings against the Mayor of Orihuela, José Vegara, after learning of the court trial's commencement. According to the PPCV's Statutes and Disciplinary Regulations, once a public official of the party is notified of a court trial, the case is transformed into a disciplinary proceeding.

In this regard, the PPCV's Secretary General, Juanfran Pérez, stated, "We uphold the presumption of innocence for the mayor and firmly believe in his innocence, as he has rejected a plea deal with the Prosecutor's Office and does not accept the charges against him."

The Mayor of Orihuela, Pepe Vegara, along with other defendants, has been summoned by the Criminal Court No. 1 on January 22 and 24 at 9:30 a.m. According to this newspaper, some witnesses have also been called to appear at the Santa Lucía Square courts on the 22nd at the same time.

There is a possibility that the trial may be postponed. The reason is that the lawyer defending Vegara and his company cannot attend on that date—next Wednesday—due to health reasons, as confirmed by one of the defendants to this newspaper. "We wanted to request a postponement today," he indicated.

The trial's scheduling follows the rejection of a plea deal with the Prosecutor's Office by Vegara's lawyers last March. At that time, the mayor reaffirmed his innocence and stated he would accept nothing less than acquittal on all charges.

Alongside the mayor, four other executives from the companies Estación ITV and Orikoffee SL are accused, according to the court order, of allegedly committing continuous forgery in commercial documents and two alleged tax offenses, one related to VAT and the other to Corporate Tax for the year 2005.

The order for the abbreviated procedure indicates that Vegara, along with R. P. Z. and C. C. B., members of the Estación ITV Board of Directors, allegedly reduced their business profits to lower their Corporate Tax and VAT liabilities for the same fiscal year.

According to the same order, to feign reduced activity, the three allegedly collaborated with V. C. C. and R. P. Z., who issued invoices from Orikoffee SL. These documents, the order states, "do not correspond to reality," as determined by the Tax Agency's investigations. Estación ITV, the document reveals, paid part of Orikoffee SL's invoices with promissory notes, "two of which were endorsed to Autos Ramón SA, whose administrator is M. P. Z., a family member of ITV's partners."

In total, according to the Tax Agency's reports in the hands of the judiciary, it is estimated that €760,539.12 in Corporate Tax and €157,396.80 in VAT were allegedly defrauded.

100,000 phone directories

The Prosecutor's Office's indictment provides further details. According to the Public Ministry, the alleged fraud was supposedly orchestrated through a sales contract between Vegara's company, Estación ITV, and Orikoffee SL, whereby the former purchased 100,000 phone directories advertising the ITV for subsequent distribution to clients.

Orikoffee SL, according to the same document, allegedly acquired the directories through two intermediary companies, agreeing on a price of €17 per unit, "being fully aware of the unreality and falsehood of this agreed price, as well as knowing that the directory manufacturer had sold them at a price of €1.31 per unit."

Request for seven years in prison

In this context, the Prosecutor's Office indicates that Vegara is considered a "necessary collaborator" in the alleged document forgery and a "material co-author" of the two alleged tax offenses. For these two alleged offenses against the Tax Agency, the Public Ministry seeks to impose two sentences totaling seven years in prison for the four accused and two fines amounting to €5,192,821. Additionally, there is a request for special disqualification from exercising the right to passive suffrage and from enjoying tax or Social Security benefits or incentives.

The case was uncovered while Vegara was a candidate for the mayoralty of Orihuela, on the very day of his official presentation at a restaurant in the Montepinar urbanization, accompanied by the then President of the Alicante Provincial Council and PP candidate for the presidency of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, and the party's Secretary General, Cuca Gamarra. It was a large gathering attended by nearly all the well-known faces of the PP in Vega Baja.

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