Estepona court agrees to continue investigation against mayor García Urbano for suspected embezzlement
The judge says that the case should not be dismissed as requested by the Estepona mayor's defence
The Estepona investigating court has agreed to continue the investigation against mayor José María García Urbano suspected of embezzlement of public funds and to reject the dismissal of the case requested by the defence. The anonymous woman, identified by initials C.P.B., also remains under investigation.
The judge has concluded that "there is sufficient evidence" that García Urbano, with the intention of providing "financial assistance" to C.P.B., "to whom he had paid a certain amount of money each month for her rent and personal expenses, and with whom he maintained a close friendship, had hired her for two months for the sole purpose of receiving the corresponding salary, without her having to carry out any activity. The hiring should, therefore, be considered a mere legal fiction".
The provisional dismissal of the case requested by the two investigated persons has not been approved. However, the judge has accepted the documentary evidence submitted by the mayor's defence, which includes a payment of 5,276.92 euros made by García Urbano into the town hall's treasury account. This amount corresponds exactly to the net salary received by C.P.B. during her contract with the town hall, which ran from 13 February to 31 March 2023.
'False' accusation
Sources have stated that the six-month extension of the investigation is "necessary" so that the mayor can defend himself and present evidence of a "false" accusation.
The provincial court of Malaga has already definitively dismissed the complaint for sexual harassment made by C.P.B. against García Urbano. The court has declared the accusation "false".
Sources added that the courts have proven that the woman "who lied when she accused the mayor of harassment is the same woman who also lied about her hiring" and they have defended that "there is no crime or irregularity in any of the contracts that have been carried out by Estepona town hall since José María García Urbano has been mayor".
"This is, as has already been demonstrated, an inadmissible and unjust political and media campaign, with the sole objective of damaging the dignity and political career of the mayor of Estepona," the sources stated.
