Totana judge, María Asunción Navarro, has remanded mayor José Martínez Andreo (PP) in custody without bail following a marathon preliminary hearing that started at 8am yesterday morning and finished today at 2am.

Two others also arrested last Thursday - Town Hall general secretary, Laura Bastida, and former town councillor and local tycoon, Juan Francisco Casanova - were released after each posting bail of €20,000 euros.

In total, twelve people were arrested on Monday, Thursday and Friday last week on a variety of charges including: bribery, falsifying public documents, giving false testimony, fraud, influence-trafficking, money-laundering, prevarication and embezzlement - relating to the expropriation of 2.2 million square metres of farmland to build more than five thousand new residential properties.

Former PP councillor detained in Totana corruption probe
By: thinkSPAIN
Friday, November 30, 2007

It has been confirmed that one of the two people arrested today in connection with the Totana council 'land-grab' corruption inquiry was former Agriculture councillor, Juan Francisco Casanova, who held the post from 1994-1999 during Juan Morales's tenure as mayor.

Mr Casanova now owns a company manufacturing phytosanitary products, which is located on the El Saladar industrial estate, as well as several herds of cows.

These latest arrests raise the total number detained since the start of the investigation to twelve. Among the detained are former mayor, Juan Morales (PP), current PP mayor, José Martínez Andreo, Town Hall general secretary, Laura Bastida, and Local Police chief, Alfonso Canales. 

They are accused of bribery, influence-trafficking, and money-laundering relating to the expropriation of 2.2 million square metres of farmland to build more than five thousand new residential properties.

Totana mayor arrested in 'land-grab' corruption probe
By: thinkSPAIN
Thursday, November 29, 2007

Guardia Civil officers have arrested the current mayor of Totana, José Martínez Andreo (PP), the Local Police chief and the municipal secretary as part of the 'Totem' council corruption inquiry. The Town Hall building has been evacuated while officers search for evidence.

Earlier this morning, shortly after 8am, the first six arrestees were brought before the judge handling the investigation. The main suspect is former mayor, Juan Morales (PP), who now represents the party on the provincial council. His current girlfriend and former wife, María del Carmen Jordán, are also implicated.

During a search of Ms Jordán's home, a number of council documents were found, which, according to a source close to the inquiry, should never have been in the possession of a private individual. Similar documents were found during a search of the consultancy owned by Ms Jordán earlier this week. When asked about them, Ms Jordán claimed that she was merely a secretary, saying that her former husband, Juan Morales, was the one responsible for delegating her work.

The same sources reveal that a briefcase containing documentation highly relevant to the inquiry was found in possession of Mr Morales's lawyer, Javier Cegarra, whose company was contracted to advise the council on urbanisation issues during Mr Morales's entire tenure (2003-2007) in return for a monthly fee of €1,800 euros. However, Mr Cegarra was sacked when Mr Andreo came to office following the regional and local elections earlier this year.

Mr Morales and his co-defendants are accused of bribery, influence-trafficking, and money-laundering relating to the expropriation of 2.2 million square metres of farmland to build more than five thousand new residential properties.