The judge puts Ximo Puig's brother in the dock for fraud and forgery

The head of the Investigative Court No. 4 of Valencia has ordered the opening of oral proceedings against Francis Puig, brother of the former president of the Generalitat Valenciana, the socialist Ximo Puig. Alongside him, Juan Enrique Adell will also be tried for alleged crimes of fraud and document forgery. This is stated in the order issued on January 28, to which EDATV NEWS has had access.

The high-profile "case of Ximo Puig's brother" began after a complaint filed by the Valencian PP. The investigation has focused on the alleged irregular obtaining of subsidies by companies linked to Francis Puig, from both the Generalitat Valenciana and the Government of Catalonia.

According to the judicial order, the magistrate considers that the investigated facts "may constitute a crime of fraud and document forgery," according to article 779 of the Criminal Procedure Law. Furthermore, he emphasizes that, given the seriousness of the facts, the abbreviated procedure should continue.

The judge points out that some of the invoices analyzed during the investigation phase could be false and created solely for the purpose of inflating the subsidies received. However, he dismisses the crime of subsidy fraud as the threshold of 120,000 euros required in the criminal type in force at the time of the events was not reached.

Even so, the magistrate believes there are clear indications of fraud and document forgery that justify the opening of a trial. Additionally, he has rejected the request for dismissal submitted by Francis Puig's defense.

The order cites Supreme Court jurisprudence, such as ruling 439/2020, which classifies similar cases as continued crimes of aggravated fraud. Based on this, the prosecutor concludes that the facts could constitute a continued crime of forgery in commercial documents and aggravated fraud, or alternatively, of embezzlement.

According to the fiscal report, the subsidies obtained by Mas Mut Produccions and Comunicacions dels Ports between 2015 and 2018 amount to 110,691.97 euros. It also maintains that Francis Puig and Juan Enrique Adell would have acted as material authors and necessary cooperators in obtaining these aids.