Summary of the Alicante case postponements and ongoing proceedings
The hearing involving Francisco Javier Méndez, former president of the Court of Alicante Social Graduate College, was postponed for the sixth time today. The case centers on claims for more than 90,000 euros that were supposed to be paid to several workers by the Wage Guarantee Fund (Fogasa). The court decided to delay the proceedings that have dragged on for nearly a decade after Méndez’s new attorney, who had agreed to represent him, withdrew from the case due to illness after contracting Covid-19 and being unable to participate in the oral hearing. The affected workers attended the session and accepted the renewed postponement with some frustration, even though the First Chamber of the Court had already scheduled a fresh date for early next month, December, to begin the hearing again.
The defendant, Francisco Javier Méndez, arrived at the regional court under the supervision of the National Police. He traveled in a van from Fontnivel prison, having served an 11-month sentence the previous summer. The court had indicated that a hearing would be held in June 2022, addressing the accounting gap at the Alicante Social Graduate College. Méndez had requested a postponement of the execution of his sentence, but the Second Chamber denied this request because he had not paid the compensation amount exceeding 300,000 euros as stipulated in the ruling.
4 years imprisonment request
Authorities have pressed for a four-year imprisonment sentence for Méndez on charges of misusing money provided by Fogasa. The amount involved is approximately 91,000 euros, according to judicial sources closely following the case. The Public Ministry alleges that Méndez acted as legal counsel for the victims during the judicial process to recover the sums after the victims’ case was dismissed in relation to a marble company. Between 2015 and 2016, prosecutors say the defendant collected sums ranging from 10,000 to 24,000 euros per worker on behalf of his clients, with an obligation to remit these funds to the victims.
Public allegations claim that Méndez concealed the money and never deposited it into his own accounts. The matter has raised concerns about the handling of funds tied to employee compensation and the duties of a lawyer acting for vulnerable workers in cases of corporate dismissals and wage disputes.
Resignation of lawyer
The case was paused earlier in the year due to the resignation of Méndez’s prior lawyer. The replacement attorney is set to present the defense on the same day as the hearing, citing a conflict of interest because that lawyer had previously represented some individuals who pursued a private prosecution in another case being tried at Alicante Criminal Court No. 3. Juries and court watchers expressed frustration about the repeated delays, especially given the long history of the case dating back to 2014. Judge José Antonio Durá publicly criticized the pace of proceedings, noting that documents had not been adequately submitted and that the other case details remained unclear, describing the situation as a serious breach of procedural fairness.
Judicial sources indicated that the prior attorney faced sanctions after a disciplinary file was opened due to the resignation on the morning of the scheduled hearing at the Alicante court. The unfolding sequence of postponements, resignations, and requests for extension underscores ongoing concerns about accountability and timely justice in fiscal-misuse cases involving public funds assigned to wage guarantees. Attribution: Alicante judicial reporting and court statements