The businessman Marco Antonio Navarro Tacoronte, known as the Mediator in the corruption plot that splashes a Canary socialist deputy, was arrested and released yesterday for another matter he had pending for a scam and theft.
By order of the investigating court number 4 of Arrecife (Lanzarote), he was arrested with the aim of informing him that an oral trial is pending after the inability to locate him. Navarro Tacoronte had a subpoena and search warrant for not responding to the subpoenas that were sent to his home to notify him of everything related to the procedure in question.
The origin of the matter was a scam from an acquaintance, whose wallet he stole during a dinner and later used his credit cards to make expenses. Navarro Tacoronte’s name came to the fore a few months ago for being the person who uncovered the corruption plot involving PSOE deputy Juan Bernardo Fuentes Curbelo, alias Tito Berni, who had to resign after his arrest.
In the cause known as Mediator, the participation of Navarro Tacoronte is being investigated for acting as an intermediary between island leaders and businessmen, especially from the Canary Islands, to facilitate procedures and adjudications in exchange for bribes, translated into money, meals, dinners, drinks and parties.
The plot offered employers privileges in matters of contracting and alleged favorable treatment in inspections and public aid. The summary of the case uncovered last February includes meetings and gatherings, and they would have come to participate in parties with prostitutes, alcohol and drugs.
In addition to Tito Berni and Navarro Tacoronte, the third person investigated in this matter is the retired General of the Civil Guard Francisco Espinosa, the only defendant who entered provisional prison, for possible irregularities in contracts linked to a European Union project in the Sahel.
In the part that affects the command of the armed institute, the European Prosecutor’s Office recently took on the case to investigate whether there was a fraudulent use of public funds in the Gar-Si Sahel project. This project was financed by the European Commission and managed by the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policy (FIIAPP), for which the former general was the most responsible.
Espinosa was the only suspect who had been in pre-trial detention until, with the approval of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, he was released by order of the National Court
