Karl Smallman
TORREMOLINOS town hall may have ‘colluded’ with a beleaguered animal sanctuary in order to siphon off public money.
The Olive Press can reveal that the close relationship between Torremolinos Animal Parque boss Carmen Marin and the town hall may have tacitly allowed the extermination of over 2,800 pets without sufficient anaesthetic.
According to court documents seen by the paper, Marin made a number of, as yet unexplained, payments totalling over €50,000 to Mayor Pedro Fernandez Montes’s brother Jose Fernandez.
They were made in a series of six ‘to the bearer’ cheque transactions between December 2005 and March 2006. All of them were cashed by the brother.
So far, despite questioning from the Guardia Civil, neither the brother or the town hall have explained what they were for.
The documents, which form part of the court case against Marin, also clearly show a steady paper trail between the town hall and the charity boss.
Intriguingly they show the animal charity boss stumped up the cost of at least one party for the town hall.
They also look at links between her and a construction company ran by the mayor’s brother and son. One invoice of €55,000 and another of €13,000 is also being investigated.
Marin is currently being investigated for ‘inflicting pain on thousands of animals’ by not using sufficient anaesthetic to put them down.
She is also accused of using the charity’s money for hotel stays, driving lessons and spa treatments as well as favours for friends and family.
Torremolinos Town Hall declined to comment.
Meanwhile shareholders of the charity — who for l0 years had no idea animals were being put down inhumanely — continue to fight for justice.
“We all trusted her 100%,” said Ana Fernandez, president of the action group Accion Afectados Parque Animal. “Now we want her to pay back all the money. We know she has got it.”
A spokesman for the Guardia Civil said that it had put a request in to the court over the allegations and would get back when it had an answer.
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Have a look at the bird park in Almuñécar. New owners have sold off a large proportion of the valuable birds and fired the head keeper, visitor numbers dropped, more birds sold to cover costs, now most cages with just single birds or pairs. Soon it will change from a thriving tourist attraction to a prime site ready for redevelopment.
“Where there’s money there’s muck”, so the stench of corruption must infect most organisations in Spain, even charities.
Not much chance of justice either. Most cuprits will walk free, with suspended sentences, or miniscule fines which can never reflect the damage and suffering they have caused.