Alex Trelinski
ONE of the most corrupt ex-mayors in Alicante province has been in court again to pick up a a four-and-a-half year jail term and an 11 year public office ban for misappropriating public money.
It’s the latest in a long list of corruption rulings against Jose Joaquin Moya who was first arrested in 2008 after being Bigastro’s socialist mayor for over 25 years.
Joaquin Moya, along with the former municipal secretary, was convicted of pocketing part of the proceeds of a land sale which should have gone into council coffers.
Moya, 73, will have to pay back €59,000 in civil liability to Bigastro City Council, while Antonio Saseta faces a €68,000 refund.
Both men will also have to pay interest on what is owed and cover half of the legal costs of their trial held at the Alicante Provincial Court in Elche.
The verdicts and sentences can be appealed at the Valencian Superior Court.
The crimes dated back to 2005 and 2006, and Moya resigned as mayor 16 years ago when he was held in pre-trial detention by the Guardia Civil who arrested him during a probe into illegal activities.
Moya’s extensive track record in the courts has seen him get sentences totalling over 20 years of disbarment from public office.
His offences included authorising a solar park on protected land in La Pedrera to a family member; allowing the processing of an urbanization with a resort on rustic land; conviction of embezzlement over a land deal: and authorising the payment of legal advice for the council for a decade without a contract.
Other cases remain to be resolved including a gift of a luxury car to Moya from a group businessmen who were awarded contracts, and authorising illegal Social Security payments to over 40 Bigastro residents who had no employment history with the council.
