In Tarragona, the Reus City Council auditor, Baldomero Rovira, told the court that architect Jorge Batesteza received payments from both the municipal holding company Innova and the contractor for the Sant Joan Hospital project for similar work. Rovira also questioned the regularity of Carles Manté's contract and the lack of documentation for many services billed.
The hearing is part of the Innova case trial. It was adjourned because a tribunal member was indisposed, and the court had planned to hear from other witnesses, including the City Council's secretary general, Jaume Renyé, and former health minister Marina Geli.
Rovira, who has led the municipal audit department since May 2008, said he co-authored reports in 2012 with the municipal secretary after an internal review of the city business network, started by Mayor Carles Pellicer's office. He said the council had carried out limited oversight of municipal companies for years because of a lack of resources.
His evidence focused first on the contract awarded to Carles Manté, former director of CatSalut, through CCM Estratègies i Salut. Rovira said the company was created just days before Manté's engagement with Innova. The contract covered strategic advice and consultancy, with 1,000 hours a year for an initial fee of €160,000, and invoices were meant to be backed by periodic reports.
Rovira said the award process did not follow the legal rules or the Public Sector Contracts Law. He also said the audit found little evidence that the services had been delivered, and that invoices continued over four years until they totalled €720,120.82. The City Council later referred the matter to the Court of Accounts, which found the work for CCM was not proven, a decision later upheld by a higher court. For background on the wider case, see our news coverage.
The hearing also examined Jorge Batesteza, one of the main defendants and one of two people who have reached a preliminary agreement with the Public Prosecutor's Office. Rovira confirmed that Batesteza received payments from Innova and the Euroconsult-AXXO joint venture for essentially the same tasks linked to the construction of the new Sant Joan Hospital. The prosecution says this duplication caused an overcharge of €186,400 to public funds.
Rovira said the contracts for Manté and Batesteza did not go through the board of directors and were formalised by Innova's general management. He also said the municipal audit reports raised repeated concerns about weak controls at Innova between 2008 and 2010. The defence challenged parts of those reports during cross-examination, and the trial is set to continue with further testimony.
