Elche treasury councillor, Maria Angeles Aviles, could be facing charges of accountancy fraud

Elche treasury councillor, Maria Angeles Aviles, could be facing charges of accountancy fraud, along with the mayor, Alejandro Soler. Elche’s chief prosecutor, Ramon Siles, has announced that the decision to prosecute was taken after it was revealed that Aviles had signed five payments which were judged to be irregular and that Mayor Soler had signed two irregular payments, worth 5,620 euros.The monies in dispute were allegedly used to fund the Socialist Party (PSOE) political campaign promoted in a local newspaper. In the course of investigating the payments signed by Soler, the Popular Party discovered five more suspect payments, in the sum of some 11,000 euros, which they have submitted to the anti-corruption prosecution in Alicante. Whilst the prosecutor considers that Aviles should be charged with the same crimes as Soler, the judge, who is currently studying the relevant documents, has not taken any firm decision as yet. Aviles has been nominated to stand as a Socialist Party member for the European elections next June and the secretary of the Socialist Party in Alicante, Ana Barcelo, reiterated that the Party will continue to support the mayor, because they believe that he has simply made a mistake. They say that he has explained the circumstances and has ordered an audit to examine all the payments made during the last three years.