Case of Local Police recruitment fraud in Pulianas adds two new suspects
A judge in Granada has summoned two administrative officials from the examining board following an expanded complaint from the People's Party. The metadata of the examinations would point to possible coordinated action.
Two new suspects in alleged recruitment fraud at Pulianas
The case concerning alleged fraud in the Local Police recruitment examination in Pulianas has incorporated two new suspects, according to ideal.es. The judge at Instructional Court number 3 of the Granada Court of First Instance—which is investigating the Pulianas case specifically within the larger recruitment examination investigation—has summoned to give statements two administrative members of the examining board following an expansion of the complaint presented by the private prosecution, exercised by the People's Party municipal section.
The alleged rigging affects the 2022 new recruitment call, in which the son of the former head of the Local Police of Granada—during People's Party administrations—and another candidate who was a family member of an already retired officer both passed. The expansion of the complaint is supported by several reports from the Economic and Tax Crime Unit (UDEF) which, in the prosecution's view, demonstrate the "possible existence of coordinated action" to alter the selection process.
According to judicial sources consulted by ideal.es, the metadata of computer files would reveal that the examinations and answer templates prepared by a police officer under investigation—a member of the examining board—were created months before the official date of drafting and were allegedly sent by electronic mail to members of the evaluating body with the answers already marked. The prosecution also includes an alleged offer of promotion to an officer in order to influence the participation of a family member of his in the psychometric test.
Furthermore, images have been provided which, according to those filing the complaint, would discredit the strictly professional relationship between the mayor of the locality and one of the officers under investigation: both would belong to the same football club.
The mayor is summoned again on 14 October
The judge has summoned the two new suspects for 14 October next. On that same date, the mayor of Pulianas, José Antonio Carranza, will appear again; he currently maintains the status of suspect in a case that is in its initial phase. The magistrate has also ordered the UDEF to prepare a new report focused on the 2022 selection process, with explicit reference to the files, electronic mails, answer templates, metadata, practical exercises and digital documents linked to that recruitment examination that are in its possession following the downloading of devices from one of the police officers under investigation.
The mayor's legal team has appealed the expansion of the summons on the grounds that "no new relevant facts have emerged", a requirement that the law demands in order to summon a suspect again. Carranza's lawyer argues that, of the more than thirty municipalities related to the larger investigation, his client is the only mayor under investigation, despite the fact that in all localities it is the mayors who appoint the board administratively. With regard to the photographs, the defence maintains that, if the presence of the mayor at that gathering is considered to constitute a new fact, the rest of those under investigation who were present should also be summoned. The legal representation has also requested that the court records be forwarded to the Public Prosecutor so that it may pronounce on the request for dismissal.
Carranza himself has maintained in previous statements that there is political persecution against him for being a representative of the PSOE in the province and the party's organisational secretary.
Eight suspects in total, with undeclared links
In the alleged recruitment fraud in Pulianas there are currently eight suspects, including the former head of the Local Police of Granada during People's Party administrations. The principal members of the Pulianas board were officers of the Local Police of the Granada Municipal Council, linked to the alleged first criminal group of police officers being investigated by the UDEF and the Granada Court of First Instance for alleged rigging of recruitment examinations.
The Civil Guard stated in its report—to which ideal.es had access—that one of those board members is a relation by marriage of the son of the former police chief, a degree of relationship that would have obliged abstention. Despite those links, none of the board members abstained and all signed the minutes asserting that they were not incurring any grounds for recusal.
Source: Google News ES — Crime (es)