The PSOE bought immigrant votes in Mojácar for 200 euros
The alleged plot orchestrated by the PSOE of Mojácar to buy the vote by mail and thus try to wrest the Mayor's Office from the PP in the elections next Sunday revolved around the immigrant vote. This is revealed by the investigation led by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and executed yesterday by the elite body of the Civil Guard, which made seven arrests, including those of number two of the socialists on the local list, Francisco Bartolomé Flores, and number five, Cristóbal Vizcaino.
The network, according to sources from the investigation, paid between 100 and 200 euros in exchange for adulterating the vote in favor of the Socialists and, in addition, even offered commissions of 50 euros to these people if, in turn, they managed to get their acquaintances or relatives agree to also commit the electoral fraud denounced.
It was Vizcaíno himself, who was not affiliated with the PSOE, the person who was sometimes able to personally attract citizens to offer them money, the same sources of the investigation report.. The plot tried to capture votes by mail among citizens of Latin American origin with low purchasing power residing in Mojácar. Among the detainees there are several people from countries such as Ecuador and Nicaragua.
Two of the seven arrested for buying votes in Mojácar are candidates on the lists of the PSOE
In addition, the same sources point out, the corrupt network would not only have bought wills with money in the most depressed areas of Mojácar but also made promises of work in the event that the PSOE managed to unseat the PP from the municipal seat in the electoral elections.
PSOE electoral poster with Cristóbal Vizcaíno.
In the more than ten searches that were carried out yesterday in different homes and premises in Mojácar, the agents of the Central Operating Unit (UCO) of the Armed Institute seized census lists where the names of citizens were marked, receipts of votes by mail and technological material. These census copies could lead the UCO Economic Crimes section to clarify an approximate number of the total number of voters who have sold their vote. The agents will begin to analyze the material in depth today. The blow to the plot could not be delayed any longer in time since today the deadline for issuing votes by mail ends, and there was a risk that, once all the votes by mail had been cast, relevant documentation of the case would be destroyed.
More than a month of investigation
All the detainees have spent the night in the cells of the Civil Guard waiting to give a statement. The investigation led by a judge from Vera (Almería) began a month ago after a citizen filed a complaint with the Civil Guard warning of the “abnormal” behaviors he observed in Mojácar, specify the same sources consulted. Given the entity of the complaint and the existence of a complaint of the same characteristics filed a year earlier, the Judicial Police of Almería contacted the UCO.
The Flores family owns a tobacconist's, while Vizcaíno runs a well-known bar in the municipality. The UCO investigates whether the plot used the former's business as a postal address to commit the alleged electoral fraud that is being clarified. Those allegedly involved in the vote-buying operation in Mojácar have family interests that would justify acting desperately to wrest the mayoralty from the PP after 16 years of popular government.
Francisco Bartolomé Flores, in a PSOE electoral poster.
On the one hand, Francisco Bartolomé Flores is the son of the former socialist senator for Almería Bartolomé Flores Flores, who has filed a lawsuit against the Mojácar City Council for the classification of use of a plot located on the beachfront of which he owns.
This land is classified as private equipment. In other words, only some type of establishment for social purposes could be built on it, such as an educational, sports or health center.. Surrounded by large residential developments, the owner has been demanding its redevelopment from the City Council, but the municipal government only offered him a partial modification of use at the time, which has not met his expectations.. Given that the land has not yielded any profitability for years because no type of equipment has been developed, the owner considers that he should be compensated in the amount of three million euros, which is the amount he is claiming from the City Council through the courts.
The pending reform of the General Urban Planning Plan (PGOU) of Mojácar could be a new opportunity for Bartolomé Flores and that the PSOE take control of the municipal government could somehow facilitate the negotiation. On the other hand, as EL MUNDO has learned, there are several members of the socialist candidacy who have interests in the hospitality industry and have also been affected by the actions of the Government of Rosa María Cano. Some sources cite the family relationship of one of the members of the PSOE list with the owner of two beach bars, which have open files for the improper use of terraces and nightstands.