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TARIFA. General Juan Antonio Miguélez Paz of the reserve
brigade, the officer with maximum responsibility for the
sale and transfer of Ministry of Defense land and property,
has been charged with breach of legal duty and fraud by a
court in Madrid, reports the national newspaper El País
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TARIFA. General Juan Antonio Miguélez Paz of the reserve brigade, the officer with maximum responsibility for the sale and transfer of Ministry of Defense land and property, has been charged with breach of legal duty and fraud by a court in Madrid, reports the national newspaper El País.
Both Migueléz, ex chief of the Defense Department of Infrastructures and Equipment, and Lieutentant-Colonel José Luis Bastabad, the chief of Equity Management of the same body, appeared before a magistrates court in Madrid recently. The charges relate to the sales in the year 2000 of the home of the chief of Tarifa´s Naval Station, and the infirmary attached to it, at prices of 180,662 euros and 137,094 euros respectively.
Ownership of the two properties was transferred through direct sales after their auctions were declared devoid of qualifying bids. The problem, according to El País, is that the properties´ characteristics as given in the auction notices, did not coincide with the Property Register, hence the lack of any bidders. Titularity of “The Commander´s House” was transferred to a private individual through a direct sale at the opening price fixed for the second auction- 15% less than market value.
The naval station was dismantelled more than ten years ago, along with other military buildings in Tarifa, but the structure remained as a testimony to the region´s military past. The new owners set up a restaurant and apartments on the site with the name “The Commander´s House”. The neighbouring infirmary was bought by in 2000 by a local business person, who is currently waiting for the approval of the latest PGOU town planning document, and the reclassification as “urban” of the land on which the property stands, in order to carry out building work. The individual states that he did not perceive any irregularities in the sale-purchase operation which he says was transacted with other military officials than those now standing as accused.
The two buildings are located on Alcalde Juan Núñez street, in the proximities of the port, where at least seven other Naval buildings were constructed in the 1960s to serve as logistic support for the significant naval base which existed at the time in Tarifa. Commercial premises and apartment blocks now stand on their foundations.
Translation: Vanessa Rogers
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