Alcudia town hall engineer fined for bribery

An agreement was struck between defence and prosecution that removed the possibility of the case being heard by a jury. Instead, the High Court in Palma yesterday dictated the sentence. The guilty party has ten days in which to pay the fine and so avoid a prison term.

The case relates to restoration work at the Ca ses Monges building in Alcudia. The engineer asked for an illegal "commission" of 2,000 euros from an electrician for being subcontracted to undertake electrical work that was part of an initial project for the building that did not have a specified budget. The cost of the work would therefore be adjusted according to work that was done.

The engineer said that the commission was to go towards a supposed collaboration with a table tennis club in Alcudia, work for which - it turns out - he asked for a separate commission.

Because the engineer admitted everything, the prosecution reduced its original demand of a five-year sentence to two and was prepared to substitute this with the fine. As well as the fine, the engineer has been disqualified from having a job in the public sector for three years.