Barcelona senior politician sacked for theft

 

Josep Maria Matas, has been dismissed from his position as coordinator for Diputación de Barcelona, over suspicions that he has embezzled almost €1 Mln of public funds into his private company over the course of the last 10 years.

Since 2003 his own business, Parés i Solé SL, was paid 920'000 euros from the Catalan Association of Municipalities (ACM), who he also happened to be the Secretary General for. Given that Parés i Solé SL has no contracted employees or offices, investigators held that it had grossly overcharged for the work that it claimed to have carried out for the Province - notably press releases, advertising management and market studies.

Matas' superior at the Provincial Government for Barcelona, Salvador Esteve, made the dismissal yesterday morning after initially denying that he would do so. Both men also worked together at ACM, a public agency that relies exclusively on local and regional subsidies.

Matas is also the President of the party Convergència Democràtica de Cataluña (CDC) for the municipality of Osona. The CDC and Uniò Democrática de Catalunya together make up the CiU coalition that has ruled Catalonia for most of its democratic history. Regional premier Artur Mas, of CiU, declined to comment on the move, but insisted that the move was a "resignation" as opposed to a dismissal.

This follows Friday's news that a number of senior executives in the Valenican regional parliament were dismissed from their positions and are under investigation for the theft of public funds destined for overseas aid.