The former president of the Diputación de Valencia with the PSPV and current mayor of Ontinyent for La Vall ens Uneix, Jorge Rodríguez, defended this Monday before the start of the trial for the 'Alquería case' his management at the head of the public company Divalterra. In statements to journalists, Rodríguez has indicated that "they tried to bring order by restructuring the company" and for this reason those seven contracts were made that the judge considers irregular.
Despite facing a request from the prosecutor for 8 years in prison and 20 years of disqualification, the mayor of Ontinyent has stressed that the start of the trial allows him to begin "seeing the light at the end of the tunnel after four years" in an ordeal that began with "a spectacular arrest" when he was still the top leader of the provincial institution.
Rodríguez and another 14 people accused in the framework of the 'Alquería case' for crimes of prevarication and embezzlement of public funds, in relation to the allegedly irregular hiring in 2015 of senior executives in the public company Imelsa, later called Divalterra, who were people related to the ruling parties in the provincial corporation, PSPV-PSOE and Compromís.
The alleged embezzlement of public funds has been estimated at 1.2 million euros. The Prosecutor's Office requests sentences of up to eight years in prison and 20 years of disqualification for the defendants, among whom are two former managers of Divalterra and the senior managers hired.
However, Rodríguez has insisted that this trial is more typical of a contentious-administrative court (he faces criminal proceedings) and points out that there is talk of embezzlement for the salary of the contracts in question. The former leader of the PSPV has pointed out that those workers who directed the seven areas with which they tried to get the company out of chaos went to their jobs and did their job.
Asked about the possibility of returning to the PSPV if his innocence is proven, Rodríguez has assured that "he is focused on the trial" and that it is not something that is being considered right now.
