The former mayor of jerez, Pilar Sánchez (PSOE), who is appearing in court on charges of corruption and embezzlement, has justified the diversion of €8.6 million of funds from the Plan E on the grounds that she needed to pay municipal salaries and pay the concessionaires of municipal companies.
The former mayor told the judge she needed to prioritise resources due to the precarious state of the municipal coffers. She admitted she could have stopped the municipal payroll but felt a duty to the 3,000 municipal and public employees.
Sánchez stated that the decision to divert the funds was taken by a ‘crisis committee’ due to the financial crisis in the municipality.