Six arrests in Orihuela rubbish contract investigation

Six arrests in Orihuela rubbish contract investigation
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By m.p - May 31, 2007 - 8:20 PM
They include a well-known businessman and a PP councillor for Albatera, voted in this Sunday

Six arrests have been made in Orihuela in a case related to the ongoing investigation into alleged corruption regarding the rubbish collection contract in the town. Dubbed Operation Brugal, it’s described as an operation without precedence in the province. Charges include influence peddling, bribery and extortion.

One of those in custody is Ángel Fenoll, whose company, Colsur, came third in the bidding list for the contract. The corruption investigation began when Fenoll released to the press taped conversations about allegations of bribery in the contract.

Also in custody is Fenoll’s brother Ramón, a son, and Francisco Javier Bru, who is manager of Colsur and was voted in as a councillor for the Partido Popular in Albatera on Sunday.

Searches took place on Wednesday at Bru’s home, at a rubbish tip owned by another Fenoll company - Proambiente, at Colsur offices, and in property Fenoll owns in Orihuela.

Europa Press reports that one of the other two detainees could be the detective who made the recordings which were released to the press in March last year, and where the then-spokesman for the Centro Liberal Party, Jesús Ferrández, allegedly admitted to a bribery attempt by one of the companies vying for the contract.

The tape implicated the Mayor, José Manuel Medina, and the PP councillor, Antonio Franco, in an alleged commission offered by Urbaser, the company which was awarded the contact.

Ferrández, who has said on more than one occasion that the tapes have been manipulated, presented a slander case against Fenoll. The tapes themselves have been in the hands of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor since June 2006.

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