Court of Accounts summons two former mayors of Cambre over €560,000 in police overtime
The Court of Accounts has validated the complaint regarding more than €560,000 in extraordinary hours paid to the Cambre Local Police between 2020 and 2023.
Two former mayors of Cambre summoned to Madrid over alleged irregular payment of overtime
The Court of Accounts has upheld the complaint filed by the municipal comptroller of Cambre, according to reports, after more than a year of investigation. The case centres on more than €560,000 paid for extraordinary hours to the Local Police between 2020 and 2023, during the governments of Unión por Cambre, for bonuses allegedly unjustified despite possible non-compliance with ordinary working hours.
The body has convened nine people for 7 October next at its headquarters in Madrid to conduct the provisional settlement. Among those summoned are former mayors Óscar García Patiño and María Pan, Juan González Leirós—who served as acting mayor—, the then councillor for Public Security Elisa Pestonit, the former municipal comptroller, and several officers and former members of the local force.
At that hearing, the record will be read containing the provisional amount considered as damage to the town hall, including the initial sum and accrued interest, and the responsibility of each person affected will be determined. This procedure, prior to the trial phase and which does not imply a declaration of guilt, will allow the court to provisionally adopt guarantees over property, assets, or accounts before proceeding to the intervention of the Public Prosecutor's Office and the State Attorney's Office.
Background and parallel criminal case
The origin of the case dates back to the observations issued in 2022 by the municipal secretariat and Comptroller's Office concerning the payment of those bonuses. In 2023, the current comptroller warned that the Local Police had absorbed 59% of the town council's total bonuses in 2022 and called for a comprehensive review of working hours. The matter runs parallel to a criminal case in Instruction Court number 5 of A Coruña, where García Patiño and María Pan are under investigation for alleged malfeasance and embezzlement. This is compounded by at least nine court rulings that struck down claims for overtime hours by several officers for failure to prove they were worked.
Reactions from current and former municipal governments
For the local PP government, the validation of the proceedings by the supervisory body represents a setback to García Patiño's thesis, who upon resigning in March 2024 attributed the municipal blockage to alleged animosity from the secretary and comptroller. The municipal executive points out that the steps taken by the Court of Accounts contrast with the position of María Pan, who upon the opening of proceedings in 2025 had requested the dismissal of the case citing lack of competence of the accounting body—a motion that the secretariat warned should be assessed by the full council, not the mayor's office.
Following the change of government, the council voted to intervene in the criminal case and collaborate with the Court of Accounts, sending it the required documentation for the third time in July. The current mayor, Diana Piñeiro, reiterates her position of "utmost respect for the investigation and absolute collaboration", and argues that with more than half a million euros in public funds at stake, the municipal obligation is to facilitate clarification of the facts and allow the authorities to determine responsibilities and amounts owed.
Defence of the former mayors
Former councillor María Pan stated she had not received notice of the summons, as did her party colleague Óscar García Patiño. Pan further questioned whether a parallel proceeding should have been taken without waiting for the decision to be adopted by the court, where the investigation into these matters remains in the instruction phase and it has not yet been determined whether there will be an oral trial.
Source: Google News ES — Crime (es)