Prosecutors call for 226-year sentence for Alcaucin ex-mayor

Former mayor and current councillor faces corruption charges

FORMER mayor of the Axarquia town Alcaucin, Jose Manuel Martin Alba, is currently facing trial over several corruption allegations, which could see him sentenced to a total of 226 years in jail if found guilty.
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s officers in Malaga have announced that the trial is expected to take place on November 7, 2016, and that another 48 people are to be tried on the same charges.
Mr Manuel, a former member of the PSOE socialist party and currently still an independent councillor, has been charged with crimes of fraud, embezzlement, document forgery, bribery and influence peddling.
In addition, the prosecutor’s office has also requested a total of 700 years’ professional disqualification.
The former head of the Architecture Department of Malaga Provincial Council, Jose Francisco Mora, has also been charged with similar crimes, with prosecutors requesting a total of 111 years in prison.
The investigation, called ‘Arcos,’ has been focused on several urban corruption cases alleged to have happened between 1999 and 2010, with 70 people under investigation, amongst whom are 27 construction business owners, the ex-mayor and two of his relatives, six public servants, seven architects, four intermediaries and two lawyers.
“The corruption cases in Alcaucin were especially serious as they were driven by a great number of foreigner residents who wished to settle down in the Axarquia area, which caused an overflow of requests for buildable land,” said the prosecutor’s office.