According to the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), a “weir” is “an obstruction made in rivers to make it easier to divert part of the flow for irrigation and other uses.” Azud was the word chosen by agents of the Central Operative Unit of the Civil Guard (UCO) to name a new anti-corruption operation due to the diversion of public funds. An investigation was initiated against an unidentified person who reached the Tax Office on January 12, 2016.
Almost seven years later, the Azud case resulted in 65 investigations and three court-ordered police operations that caused as many earthquakes in Valencian political life on the left and right. On the right, because the initial investigations spilled over to former mayor Rita Barberá’s brother-in-law, José María Corbín, and later to Alfonso Grau, the former deputy mayor of Valencia. And on the left, because Rafael Rubio, former PSPV spokesperson in Valencia City Council, and José María Cataluña, PSPV finance secretary from 1999 to 2004, were also indicted.
The revelation of this latest news about the socialists led People’s Party leader Carlos Mazón to assure last week that the Azud case “can already be considered the ‘PSOE case’ and is on its way to becoming the ‘Puig case’”. PSPV-PSOE Organization Secretary A political dart to which José Muñoz responded with the allegation that the Azud trial was the “People’s Party trial” linked to the Rita Barberá scene in Valencia.
Who has reason? Is the Azud trial a judicial investigation against the PP or the PSPV? Private data from the case characterize the resonant statements of both political representatives. This is not a PSPV case, because most of the investigation (the defendants, the crimes and the cases investigated) concerns the People’s Party, and the Azud case is not a PP exclusive case, as it also concerns former leaders and militants. PSPV. A situation that illustrates the crossover of alleged corruption, as the two political entities influence public officials. And in passing, representatives of Blok and the Unió Valenciana party are mentioned.
The weight of the main parties in the investigation varies considerably. Of the 65 people investigated in the case, 12 are directly affiliated with the People’s Party: all five members of the Corbín-Barberá family, former deputy mayor Alfonso Grau and their daughter, and Rosa, the former mayor of Xixona. María Verdú and the former Town Planning Councilor of this town, Francisco Doménech.
True, sinister and unstable
To these dozen people surveyed were added 29 more (most of the case), including businessmen who allegedly paid commissions for favorable treatment, privileged information, or the award of public contracts directly at Valencia City Council. Or municipal officials who facilitate transactions.
In the episode affecting the PSPV-PSOE, a total of seven people are investigated in connection with the Azud case: the lawyer José Luis Vera, the former finance minister José María Catalunya, the former spokesperson of the Valencia City Council Rafael Rubio and his wife. his wife, Joan Navarro and José María Marugán, former directors of Acuamed and Aguas del Júcar respectively, and Juan José Moragues, former president of the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation (CHJ). In this separate piece, 3 more businessmen are accused.
And there would be 14 more “cross-sectional researchers” headed by businessman Jaime Febrer, who worked as billing officers or collaborated on various city jobs he promoted.
The anonymous letter, which reached the Tax Office on January 12, 2016, condemned the high standard of living and business life of lawyer José María Corbín, brother-in-law of Valencia mayor Rita Barberá (1991-2015). The Treasury released the first report on Corbín Abogados’ office, confirming that “the main source of income comes from companies affiliated with Valencia City Council, which have won public tenders”.
The Tax Office sent this first report on September 27, 2016, to the economic crimes division of the Valencia Prosecutor’s Office, which opened a criminal investigation investigation (DIP) on October 4, 2016. March 30, 2017, the Valencian Investigation Court fell to 13. The judicial mechanism officially began with an order from the President of the 13th Investigation Court of Valencia on April 10, 2017.
Two years later, the first police operation in the Azud case ended on April 2, 2019, with Corbín’s arrest and detention for nearly a month. Analysis of documents seized from Corbín and tax inspection of his office’s business dealings led investigators to developer Jaime Febrer. In this first part of the Azud trial, the Valencia City Council’s alleged fraudulent cleaning contract, the operation of schools, or the failure of an attempt to promote a private hospital on public land were investigated, among other issues.
For now, it has been determined that José María Corbín made more than €5 million in inflows during 2006-2015 but only credited expenditures of €681,784 in the company. According to the investigation, former deputy mayor Alfonso Grau was supposed to buy four properties, which included “at least” two million euros in cash and payments, about 1.5 million euros with certain financial engineering skills. It is still being investigated whether he smuggled money abroad.
The discovery of Febrer by Azud investigators led them to one of their main collaborators, José Luis Vera, a lawyer close to PSPV. The collected evidence led to the second police operation in the Azud case, which ended on May 13, 2021, with the arrest and imprisonment of businessman Febrer, former deputy mayor Alfonso Grau and the former socialist spokesman of the Valencia City Council. The second is Rafael Rubio, who allegedly accepted 300,000 euros in exchange for his silence.
This second police operation involved new people being investigated, such as José María Cataluña, the former finance minister of the PSPV, who was summoned to testify by the UCO on May 15, 2021. Documents seized from Catalonia led to the opening of a secret story on 8 August. Third police operation in Azud case, with simultaneous searches in several cities and several company headquarters in October 2022. And the suspicion that PSPV will rake in almost one million euros to pay election costs in 2007 and 2008.