The trial for the Innova case begins this Monday at the Audiencia de Tarragona, fourteen years after the investigation into irregularities in the construction of the Sant Joan de Reus Hospital broke out. The case arrives with requests for up to ten years in prison and with the first day dedicated to resolving the preliminary issues of the main piece and the second separate piece.
The oral hearing opens after a postponement in May 2024 due to health reasons of one of the defendants. In the dock are the former mayor of Reus Lluís Miquel Pérez, the former general director of Innova Josep Prat, the former director of CatSalut Carles Manté, the architect Jorge Batesteza and four other defendants.
The Prosecutor's Office requests up to ten years and fines of 200,000 euros
The Prosecutor's Office accuses the defendants of prevarication, embezzlement of public funds, document forgery, and influence peddling. It also seeks disqualification and fines of up to 200,000 euros.
The private prosecution of the Reus City Council and the popular prosecution of the CUP join the process, along with the defenses.
The case focuses on the contracts linked to the construction of the hospital, commissioned to Innova, a municipal company created in 2002.
According to the public prosecutor's office, Innova awarded key contracts to the UTE Euroconsult Catalunya AXXO Gestión Proyectos with a total and absolute omission of the established legal procedure.
Carles Manté billed more than 720,000 euros through CCM Estratègies i Salut between 2009 and 2011 without a current contract or reports justifying the work.
Jorge Batesteza collected nearly 387,000 euros from Innova and, at the same time, worked for the contracting UTE through BBATS Consulting Projects.
Of the 43 reports required, Batesteza delivered only four.
The court sent the case to trial in March 2019
The court number 3 of Reus sent the case to the Court of Tarragona in March 2019, after seven years of investigation.
Before, I had filed other lines of investigation, among them pieces three, five, and ten and the one related to Traiber's prostheses.
Among the names that come into view also appear Natalia Torrell, Ester Ventura, Jose Vicente Gómez and Sergi Luqui, representative of the UTE Euroconsult Catalunya AXXO Gestión Proyectos.
The public prosecutor's office also requests the return of more than 720,000 euros linked to payments to Manté and another 186,400 euros for irregular contracts.
The amounts claimed by the Prosecutor's Office add up to sums that it considers improperly appropriated and diverted from the public treasury.
The first session will serve to channel the procedural debate before the court enters into the merits of a case that has taken fourteen years to go to trial.