Carlos Morales "influence peddling" investigation - June 2009


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Stefanie

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Can someone of our spanish-speaking posters translate that report on "opiniones sobre la realeza-message board" about obviously some police search of Carlos Morales´ arquitecture bureau in Arrecife! I´m worried!!!!
Thank you!!!:eek:
 
Carlos Morales "influence peddling" accusation - June 2009

According to the press, Carlos' study has been registered inside an investigation by urban development corruption in Arrecife (Lanzarote)

Registran el estudio de arquitectura del marido de Alexia de Grecia en relación con la operación en Arrecife

They register the study of architecture of the husband of Alexia of Greece in relation with the operation in Arrecife

The Police has registered the study of architecture of Carlos Morales, husband of Alexia of Greece, in relation with called ' Operation Union ', that was carried out in the Town hall of Arrecife (Lanzarote) and that yesterday began after the justice of the Court of The First Instance and Instruction Number 5 of Arrecife was decreeing - in the frame of a judicial investigation declared low secretly of actions - the detention, between others, of the ex-president of the insular Chapter Dimas Martin
 
This is a case of political corruption, relation to the construction of public buildings in Lanzarote.
By the moment the accused is the Mayor of Arrecife, but are investigating all architects, builders ....that had made public works in Lanzarote, The judge wants to know how much cost buildings,for know how much money the mayor is staying

The architects, builders are obliged to keep accounting books in their offices, they must enroll in the income and expenses for your company, invoices .... and the judicial police has seized it, to seek evidence against the mayor.

by this time the only suspect is the mayor and other politicians.
Carlos is not accused of anything , I hope that him books of accounts are in order .
 
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There are some news about Carlos Morales:
What does that mean in English? 1. Sale del cuartel tras declarar por la "operacion Union"
2. Lo de en calidad de "imputado" suena gravisimo (Answer of a poster)

Please spanish speaking posters HELP!
 
The first part is something like, "he went out of the barracks after declaring for the Operation Union". The second part is, "It's accused. Sounds serious".

I am not sure what they mean by barracks in the first part. I'm not a native Spanish speaker, so I am sure that I'm missing something. Hope that this helps.
 
Carlos is being investigated by participation in urban development crimes, he is accused, though for the present time he will not go to prison. It will be necessary to expect to know like the investigation finishes to know that happens with him.

http://www.adn.es/sociedad/20090603/NWS-2658-Lanzarote-Morales-Carlos-urbanisticos-imputado.htmlhttp://www.adn.es/sociedad/20090603/NWS-2658-Lanzarote-Morales-Carlos-urbanisticos-imputado.html

Carlos Morales declares like imputed by urban development crimes in Lanzarote

The architect lanzaroteño Carlos Morales, husband of the princess Alexia of Greece, has declared today like imputed by urban development crimes before the Police, which investigates the plot of municipal corruption and urban development in Lanzarote.

Sources of the investigation informed Efe of which Carlos Morales is imputed by peddling of political favors and crime against the land management in the frame of the " Operation Union ", in that already twenty persons have been detained, between politicians, civil servants and businessmen.
...
 
Thank you lula for giving a summary
Do we have to worry? I mean was he at first just interrogated and now he is accused? Just now where they both celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary in July:eek:
I read about thay building scandal in Lanzarote already about a year ago - isn´t a partner of a famous spanish singer and flamenco dancer (don´t remember her name - she´got black long hair and he´s at least about 15 years her senior and a heavy smoker) imprisoned already because of this?
 
In Spain the Police is investigating very much this type of crimes, specially in places of tourism, where there has been an abuse of the construction.
It will be necessary to wait, but it is a delicate enough topic. Only it is possible to wait to know like the investigation evolves and like the topic is solved, everything will depend on his level of implication, but for the moment his reputation will remain definitively damaged.
 
Has he been charged with a criminal offence or is he "under investigation"?
There is quite a difference between the two.
 
I hope that everything is cleared out in this matter. It is difficult for me to believe Carlos could be involved in such a scheme.
 
It sounds to me like he is just under investigation, or just accused. Of course, I'm not a native speaker of Spanish, so I may have missed this critical detail. I agree with Warren. There is quite a big difference between the two terms. As far as I know, Spanish law is like American, meaning that one is innocent until proven guilty. I do hope that he hasn't done anything wrong.
 
I cannot understand what is written but know that Carlos Morales is an architect. One would assume that if a company built anything or obtained any contracts by fraud, the last person to be involved would be the architect.
Is Mr Morales an owner of any of the construction companies?
This is publicity the royal family would not need right now. Let's hope it is a misunderstanding of some sort.
 
It is necessary being expert in laws to explain this, and I am not.:ermm:The imputation is an average term between being witness and to be definitively accused. The Police believe that he has committed a crime, but they do not have the definitive proofs to accuse him formally, so the investigation continues.

Denuncia, querella, imputación, acusación y condena penal - Canarias24horas.com

The imputation of a crime means that rational indications exist a priori of that person could have committed a crime. The difference between imputed and witness in a penal procedure, in the phase of instruction or investigation, always is favorable to the imputed one, because he has right to be represented by attorney, not to answering to a question, not declare himself an author of criminal facts, to guarding silence and, even, to lying.
 
In the US one can be indicted for something and plead the 5th amendment to avoid self incrimination. The accused may refuse to testify, or answer questions on the advice of their attorney.
In Carlos' case this is getting a bit serious. I am very sorry to hear about it.
 
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Spanish-speaking Moderator Paty has read the links regarding this story and provided the following explanation:

The Spanish word to describe his situation is “Imputado”. I can’t find the right term in English, I believe it is "Imputed". Carlos, as administrator of two local companies, is under investigation by the police for local corruption. The details of the investigation are secret. So it's impossible to know exactly what crime he may have committed or what evidence the police have. We will know as soon as the investigation is finished.

Why Imputed instead of accused? Because in Spanish law there is a big difference between a person that is imputed, and a person that is accused.

Imputado: means that, in the beginning of a crime investigation, the Police department or the examining magistrate has evidence that a person may have committed a crime. Usually the police or the magistrate will call that person to testify. Of course the imputed person is innocent until a magistrate finds him guilty. If the crime is very important, the person will be arrested, if not, he will just be called to testify (this is the case of Carlos).

Accused: this is more serious. When the investigation is finished the examining magistrate and the public prosecutor conclude there is sufficient evidence that may prove the person has committed a crime. A trial would then follow.
 
Yes, Warren, in Portugal there is also the term Imputado, for a person who has to answer questions but is not necessarily going to be arrested.As in the case of little Madeline.
 
Thank you, Warren (and Paty) for explaining the difference. I really hope that Carlos hasn't done anything that is illegal. I will be curious to see how this case proceeds.
 
Would that be equivalent to a "person of interest" in an American investigation? Can I quote Paty for a blog post on the subject?
 
Would that be equivalent to a "person of interest" in an American investigation? Can I quote Paty for a blog post on the subject?

Yes is exactly is the equivalent, Imputado= Person of Interest.
Sg1fan, you can quote me, of course.
 
I hope with all my heart that soon all this situation is going to end with a proof of innocence for Carlos. I can´t immagine what it would mean to the whole family otherwise. I also can´tbelieve he´d be so harsh to do something illegal - of course I know he is a human being- but in his case, a human being who happens to be in the public eye and married to a scandal free, marvelous woman.Not to speak of his children.:eek:
 
This kind of thing happens all the time in the architecture/construction industries and usually has more to do with a lapse in judgment or trying to speed up the process than with anything truly criminal. I hope it's resolved quickly so this wonderful family can continue their lives as normal.
 
I think Carlos has not committed any crime, and proof is that the magistrate has not taken any measure against him.
When the judge will put an end to the investigation, he will issue an order, this is called "auto", it will say the people who could have committed a crime....I think that Carlos will not be among the defendants.
 
:previous:
I'm pretty sure that the Danish papers are mistranslating/misunderstanding the Spanish legal terms. I certainly hope he hasn't been arrested. The King has enough to worry about in recovering his health. My guess is that an arrest of him would make the Greek/Spanish/Danish and UK papers and be pretty widely covered because of Princess Alexia.

There was a report that Carlos was questioned at the Police Station; that would be common practice in an investigation. I couldn't find any articles with photos on this in the Spanish/Lanzarote media, though.
 
The blog says he's being investigated for bribery and corruption - with regards to what exactly? Whom did he bribe/what was he being bribed for/how was he corrupt?
 
According to the Spanish and Danish press Carlos is a person of interest in an investigation of bribery and corruption of various mayors and public officials in Lanzarote (and possibly elsewhere in Spain) in regards to contracts for buildings and land. Carlos is a successful architect and owns an additional firm that consults for companies bidding in the area. That is as far as the official record goes.

There are multiple versions of specific allegations being printed elsewhere. Those are rumors and I personally don't think they belong in this or any forum. However, I'm not an admin and that's their call. I have held back writing the blog post for a bit to see if this became more serious or went away completely. I personally chose not to list the specific allegations because they are rumors and slander.

Carlos Morales may be related to royalty, but he is living as a private person and the Greek Royal Family is deposed (no matter how much some of us appreciate various members of the family). Carlos may well be innocent and at this moment in time he has not even been charged. In my opinion, it's better to wait to list the more specific media allegations, speculations and rumors until (or IF) there are official charges.
 
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Thanks for the info. I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I believe in "innocent until proven guilty". On the other hand, sometimes maybe that's just how business gets done?
 
I personally hope his name is cleared and that he was questioned for the sake of being questioned, for no other reason than the fact that he has a lovely wife and family.
 
In Spain the criminal trials has two phases:
1-the instruction, Judge Instructor, investigates the facts that have been denunciation.This stage ends with a resolution that it is called "Auto" is this resolution which establishes who are the persons defendant and the crime that is attributed to their (an "imputado" is not a defendant).That "Auto" has not been dictated still
2-The trial would be heard before a different judge at this stage of trial is where they must present evidence and it ends with the sentence.


The problem is another. No one can know the facts by which it is investigated to Carlos because that the investigating Judge decreed the "secret of the investigations","The secret of investigating" Besides facilitating the investigations have other function that is save the privacy of individuals investigated and engender the least possible damage to its image or business.
Do not keep the secret of investigation and that it transcend the press, is a crime.
THE CRIME OF DISOBEDIENCE TO THE AUTHORITY.
It is obvious that this has been violated, evidence of this is that the Spanish and Danish newspapers have published it.. Someone has committed a crime of disobedience​

Carlos has not been found guilty and the press already presumed guilty, it will significantly harm your business and person ...​

and to think that the presumption of innocence is a basic democratic values ...​

On the other hand, if the Danish newspaper said that Carlos has been arrested, it seems to me to say this is very serious, because Carlos has been called to testify has not been arrested ..
Arrested and being called to testify, This is not the same
When Call to testify to a person, the judge send a letter to the person, it says the day and time that the person have to go to court to answer questions.​
 
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