Judge confirms Jácome will only be investigated for misfeasance
Ourense mayor Gonzalo Pérez Jácome faces investigation solely for misfeasance. The judge rejected expanding the case to include embezzlement and document falsification.
Jácome charged only with misfeasance: judge rejects expanding investigation
The judge at Plaza Court Number 1 of the Investigating Section of the Provincial Court of Ourense has confirmed the indictment of mayor Gonzalo Pérez Jácome for an alleged continuous crime of administrative misfeasance. At the same time, the magistrate has dismissed the appeal of the private prosecution, which sought to extend the investigation to possible crimes of embezzlement and document falsification.
As confirmed by the Superior Court of Justice of Galicia, consulted by Europa Press, the latest ruling reproduces the arguments of the previous resolution, in which it was already agreed to continue the case through the summary procedure.
Public salary and private television, the core of the case
The investigation centres on the situation maintained by Jácome since his inauguration as mayor in June 2019. Since then, the mayor has received a municipal salary for exclusive dedication of just over 70,000 euros annually, without having ended his connection to Auria TV, his local television channel. Between 2019 and 2022, Jácome declared income of over 197,000 euros from that private activity.
The judge considers that management of the channel cannot be classified as a residual or merely patrimonial activity, but as an activity with income "of some substance". Consequently, it would not fit within the exceptions permitted by incompatibility regulations—such as management of personal assets, occasional participation in conferences, or artistic creation.
The omission before the plenary, key to the criminal charge
In the ruling, the magistrate emphasises that it is "evident" that the mayor had an obligation to submit the question of compatibility between his public office and his private activity to the municipal plenary, "without allowing for interpretations". It was up to that plenary to assess whether it was appropriate to allow Jácome to exercise the mayoralty with exclusive dedication whilst at the same time operating a local television station.
The purpose of the case is not to determine whether compatibility should have been granted, but rather that the mayor never requested it and thereby prevented the plenary from pronouncing on the matter.
The private prosecution sought to go further
Telmo Ucha, former councillor of Democracia Ourensana and representative of the private prosecution, had filed for reform and, alternatively, an appeal. Ucha requested that the proceedings also include a crime of embezzlement of public funds in concurrence with the misfeasance, as well as a possible crime of falsification in a public document linked to both charges.
However, the Ourense Public Prosecutor's Office had already indicated that it would only accuse Jácome of administrative misfeasance, expressly ruling out embezzlement and document falsification. The judge, in line with that criterion, keeps the scope of the investigation to the alleged misfeasance owing to the absence of a compatibility request.
ABC reports that the case proceeds through summary procedure
As reported by ABC, the ruling ratified by the Superior Court of Justice of Galicia reproduces the arguments of the previous resolution and confirms that the case will proceed under the summary procedure, limited to the sole charge that both the judge and the Public Prosecutor's Office consider supported by the facts investigated.
Source: ABC