Police operation in Torredembarra

TorredembarraThe Civil Guard yesterday arrested the entire governing board of the Torredembarra City Council, led by mayor Daniel Masagué, for alleged crimes of embezzlement of public funds, money laundering, prevarication, and influence peddling. The Civil Guard also arrested the deputy mayors, Francisca Felguera, Santiago Ardèvol, Elia Rodríguez, and Pere Font, from CiU, José Oviedo, from the PP, and Ignasi Duran, from the Group of Independents of Torredembarra (GIT).

The arrests were joined by that of Blas Niubó, a local businessman. From early in the morning, the Civil Guard searched the Town Hall for evidence surrounding these alleged crimes, searches that were also carried out at the mayor's home, at the Tropik bar, owned by the aforementioned businessman, and at the headquarters of the construction company Teyco, in Barcelona, with which Niubó was allegedly related. At the time of going to press, the searches continued at the Torredembarra council, from where the mayor, Daniel Masagué, who had participated in the investigation tasks since early in the morning, had not yet left. The operation, ordered by instruction court number 1 of El Vendrell, is under summary secrecy.

Irregular awardsAccording to investigation sources, the plot that has led to the arrests would revolve around several irregularities perpetrated by the mayor Daniel Masagué during his management at the head of the municipal government, and which would have implicated the entire governing board for having given it the go-ahead.

Among these irregularities would be the irregular award of the construction of the underground car park on Filadors street to the company Teyco, which cost more than one million euros and which, despite being in service, is hardly used by anyone. The rental of three premises is also being investigated to be used, one as the Guardia Urbana police station, another as the headquarters of the casteller group, and the third for entity offices, a property that is still empty after more than two years under the City Council's guardianship. The rental with the right to purchase the three properties would have cost the Torredembarra City Council between two and three million euros, an amount far above its market price.

The mayor is also accused of having hired the legal consultancy Efial without a public tender, whose services would have been required to have legal arguments different from those of the municipal secretary, who for some time would have opposed the mayor's irregular practices. The court is also investigating money laundering into the accounts of the mayor's companies, a bakery and several farms and cafes.

In recent years, these alleged irregularities have led to more than twenty complaints from opposition parties. The scale of the operation generated much expectation in Torredembarra, even though both the opposition and many officials assured that it did not take them by surprise because the case was an open secret.

Daniel Masagué a mayor under suspicion Daniel Masagué (CiU) is mayor of Torredembarra since 2008, at which point he took advantage of the resignation of Manuel Jiménez, from the PSC, who had been left in the minority. Masagué came to power thanks to the support of the three councilors from CiU, three more from two independent formations, one from the PP, and that of the PSC councilor L. P., who was accused of transfugism. Subsequently, in 2011, he revalidated the mayorship. Massagué owns a bakery and several farms. In 2012, a sentence evicted him from the premises of one of these farms and his salary was garnished to face accumulated debts.