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Seven Arrested in Almería COVID-Contract Graft Probe, Including Provincial Chief and Fines Mayor

Investigators say the case grew from 2021 wiretaps that exposed alleged kickbacks in pandemic contracts.

Overview

  • Spain’s Guardia Civil UCO, acting under Juzgado de Instrucción No. 1 of Almería, carried out court‑authorized arrests, searches and seizures across homes, public offices and company premises.
  • Those detained include Javier Aureliano García, then president of the Diputación de Almería, Fines mayor Rodrigo Sánchez, former vice president Fernando Giménez, and several technicians and collaborators.
  • The court authorized the copying of private communications, demanded records from the Diputación, the Fines town hall and implicated firms, and imposed asset‑preservation measures such as freezes and bans on selling property and vehicles.
  • Investigators allege bribery, embezzlement and money laundering tied first to 2020 emergency sanitary‑material contracts and later to public‑works awards that generated commissions for favored companies.
  • Fines is described as the epicenter of a local family‑business network under scrutiny, with links cited to companies such as Comercial del Seguro del Almanzora, Cars Rodrigo and Tigilis, as the probe continues under judicial secrecy.