Jhonny Fernández fails to appear at hearing over alleged embezzlement of Bs 191 million in Santa Cruz
The former mayor of Santa Cruz failed to attend his bail hearing despite the courts rejecting his freedom motion. Only his lawyer attended.
Former Santa Cruz mayor avoids hearing over alleged municipal embezzlement
The former mayor of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Jhonny Fernández, failed to appear on Tuesday at a bail hearing regarding the alleged embezzlement of more than Bs 191 million intended for municipal works, according to El Deber. His absence occurred despite the courts rejecting the freedom motion his defence had filed and confirming that the session was to be held that same day at noon.
Only Fernández's lawyer attended the hearing; the former mayor did not show up.
Hours before the hearing, the Santa Cruz municipality had publicly denounced the legal manoeuvre. "Another legal move by Jhonny Fernández to avoid answering for the Bs 191 million embezzled through a freedom motion," the institution stated. The motion was filed before judge Verónica Vanessa Jiménez Rocha, of the Domain Loss Court No. 1, arguing that the health and life of his lawyer, Samuel Durán Severiche, would be put at risk.
The hearing had originally been scheduled for 22 October, but was suspended after the defence argued that the lawyer was ill. Judge Ana Gloria Rojas, of the Tenth Bail Instruction Court, then rescheduled it for 9 November. On Monday, 26 October, however, the municipality announced that the session would be moved forward to Tuesday, a decision that Fernández challenged through the rejected freedom motion.
The municipal director of Legal Affairs, José Luis Coplot, confirmed that the courts dismissed the appeal and clarified that there had been no pressure on judicial authorities to move the date forward. He explained that the new scheduling was based on a forensic medical report establishing that the former mayor's lawyer had no impediments to participating. In addition, Fernández was imposed with a financial penalty equivalent to one judge's basic salary.
On 22 October, when the first hearing was to take place, Fernández had declared his willingness to appear on whatever date the courts set: "You know that I come and I have my rebuttals. My conscience is clear and I have the evidence. That is key. Because this is not with words, it is with evidence," he stated. On that same occasion, he alleged that the investigation had political motivations.
The judicial proceedings investigate the destination of more than Bs 191 million allocated to 17 municipal projects which, according to the municipality, were not executed or left incomplete. The municipal institution awaits the judicial authority ordering the former mayor's preventive detention, whilst the judge must define his legal situation within the framework of the case.
Source: El Deber