The administrators of Marina de Formentera, a company controlled by the businessman Angel Bustos, have been accused by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, a the Balearic Islands Port Authority (APB), in a lawsuit for the crimes ofThe charges of embezzlement of public funds, disobedience and usurpation for having squatted for almost five months the port facilities of the west dock without a license in the port of La Savina de Formenera. The facts took place between the end of May and the beginning of October 2022. Although the concession had ended and they had lost the bidding to Port Med Formentera, owned by businessman Nicolas Mayol, those responsible for Marina Formentera decided to continue exploiting the port facilities of the western dock in the port of Formentera while awaiting a resolution of the Superior Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands (TSJB) to reverse the decision of the APB, a ruling that was then negative. Thus, they remained as squatters during the entire summer season 2022, obviously the most profitable period of the year and obtaining an important lucrative benefit, something that had never occurred in the history of the APB. In case of going to trial, the administrators face serious prison sentences.
Bustos’ role in beach bars
Currently, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Marina Formentera is Julián Bustos Ferrer, son of the businessman. Ángel Bustos is a delegate board member. Ángel Bustos is one of the businessmen who was awarded, in this case, two beach kiosks in the contest under suspicion. Bustos, through his lawyer Francisco Javier Jiménez de Cisneros, managed to get the president of the Consell, Llorenç Córdoba, to withdraw from the tender after requesting his recusal. Bustos’s beach bars would not have been winners if the criteria established in the bases for scoring the bids had not been modified, with the envelopes opened. And, like all the others, they also fail to comply with the requirements of the bases.
Incompatibility of Javier Serra
The president of Compromís, a party that forms together with the PP the coalition Sa Unió, and former vice president of the Consell de Formentera, Javier Serra, was a shareholder of the company when the events occurred. At the time, he was in the opposition of the Consell de Formentera. Javier Serra’s link with Marina Formentera is another of the pieces that the president Llorenç Córdoba has brought to the attention of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. According to La Voz de Ibiza, Javier Serra would have breached the Law of Incompatibilities throughout the period in which he was part of the island government by not having divested 22.5% of the shares in the company. And this is because it maintains contracts with the administration. In this case, the concession of the exploitation of premises and offices in Building B of the port of La Savina. Serra has stated that it has divested itself of the shares to comply with the law. However, sources of the Consell have clarified that “nobody has seen it”.
What penalties could they receive
The crime of embezzlement of public funds is regulated in the Penal Code and contemplates different penalties depending on the seriousness and circumstances of the case. There are two types of embezzlement: aggravated embezzlement and attenuated embezzlement (misappropriation of lesser gravity or disloyal administration). The penalties vary depending on the damage caused and the intentionality of the crime. In this case, the figure of “aggravated embezzlement“, which implies a profit motive or having caused serious damage to public assets, could be applicable. This includes 4 to 12 years of imprisonment, absolute disqualification (from 10 to 20 years for public employment or office) and a fine according to the amount of the embezzled funds. Disobedience is regulated in Article 556 of the Penal Code. Here it could also derive in a serious disobedience to authority that applies in situations of active disobedience in which public order is endangered or the orders of the authority are clearly resisted. When a person seriously disobeys an officer of the authority in the exercise of his duties, a prison sentence of 3 months to 1 year or a fine of 6 to 18 months could be imposed . Finally, the usurpation of a public facility in Spain, such as entering or improperly occupying buildings, offices, or public spaces without authorization, may involve penalties under the Penal Code in different articles. Article 245 of the Penal Code states that if someone occupies a public facility or property belonging to the State or other public entity with violence or intimidation, he or she may face a prison sentence of 1 to 2 years. When the occupation is without violence or intimidation, the action may be punished with a fine of 3 to 6 months.
