The former socialist deputy Juan Bernardo Fuentes Curbelo, known as Tito Berni, is facing legal troubles in the Mediador case. The Prosecution is requesting a two and a half year prison sentence for Fuentes Curbelo for alleged crimes of falsification of an official document and a crime against Social Security for supposedly simulating a work contract. This case is being investigated as part of a separate piece of the Mediador case. According to the indictment, the Prosecution is asking a court in Santa Cruz de Tenerife to open a trial against Fuentes Curbelo and three other suspects for whom the same penalties are being requested: his son Domingo Fuentes Rodríguez, his wife María Jesús Rodríguez de Ver, and the Moroccan citizen Rachid Zankti.
The Prosecutor alleges that Zankti contacted Fuentes Curbelo – as the joint administrator of the company Ganadería Tetir, located in Fuerteventura – to obtain a work permit. Zankti provided the corresponding amounts for social security contributions, hoping to meet the legal requirements under Spanish immigration law and obtain residency in Spain. The Prosecution claims that Fuentes Curbelo then asked his son to create or commission a fictitious contract that would meet Zankti’s expectations. Subsequently, they handed over the contract to the other accused, as she was the one in charge of the operation as an administrator. Allegedly, Ganadería Tetir hired Zankti as a livestock worker, with a full-time schedule of 40 hours per week from December 15, 2020, to March 14, 2021.
As a result of the fictitious employment contract, on January 4 of that year, the Government Subdelegation in Las Palmas issued a resolution granting Zankti temporary residence and work authorization. Moreover, according to the Prosecution, this allowed Zankti to access unemployment benefits, totaling 2,184.27 euros between March 14, 2021, and August 8, 2021. The Mediador case investigates an alleged scheme in which the former socialist deputy Juan Bernardo Fuentes Curbelo used his positions as general director of livestock and later as a member of the Spanish Congress of Deputies from February 2020 onwards to offer entrepreneurs the possibility of avoiding sanitary inspections, expediting and unblocking European aid procedures, or facilitating the acquisition of contracts.
The legal troubles facing Fuentes Curbelo in the Mediador case highlight the alleged misuse of his positions of power for personal gain. The involvement of his family members and another individual in the creation of a fictitious work contract raises questions about the ethical conduct of those in positions of authority. The indictment paints a picture of a complex scheme to facilitate residency and employment for an individual by deceiving the authorities and accessing public benefits illegally. These alleged actions not only have legal consequences for those involved but also undermine the public trust in elected officials and the judicial system. The Prosecution’s request for a trial and prison sentence signals the seriousness of the charges and the need to address potential corruption and fraud.
