A businessman who tried to bribe the Mayor of Benitachell, Josep Antoni Femenia, could go to jail for two years and be fined up to € 5.400,00 for bribery.

The case of Fernando Jesus TL is set to go to trial in Alicante in November.

In May 2012 the council fulfilled a demolition order made by the Superior Court of Justice in the Comunitat Valenciana (TSJCV) and destroyed a petrol station on the road between Benitachell and Javea.

In May 2013, Fernando Jesus TL, a manager of the company that owned the petrol station, filed a claim for equity liability. A year later, he met with the mayor of Benitachell for a coffee and it was at that meeting that he informed the mayor he was suing the council for € 150.000,00.

The businessman is alleged to have told the mayor that he understood that “these processes are very long” and that he would pay him € 50.000,00 on the understanding that he could “shorten the process”.

The mayor refused to accept the offer and left the establishment.

The trial is set to be held between November 20 and 23 in the Audiencia of Alicante.