Once again the allegations of corruption surrounding the Orihuela mayor, Emilio Bascuñana, when he worked an advisor to the Ministry of Health, between 2007 and 2014, is the subject of an investigation by the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office who, according to the Spanish press, have taken up the complaint.

The case surrounds a possible misappropriation of funds relating to Bascuñana’s actions for not carrying out his job over a 7 year period, during which time he served as advisor to the territorial directorate of Health, despite drawing a regular salary.

It was the Ministry of Health itself that took the case to the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office, which initiated proceedings, but which has now been assumed by the Anticorruption agency. At the time, the prosecution saw signs of a possible misappropriation in Bascuñana’s actions.

The report that Health provided to the Prosecutor’s Office, dated October 2018, showed that there were no official records that Emilio Bascuñana, a doctor and the current mayor of Orihuela, attended patients at the Álvarez de la Riva health centre during the period from 2007 to 2011.

Bascuñana has always insisted that it is nothing more than a ‘witchhunt’ and that he does have evidence to document his work in the Territorial Health Directorate during this period as well as the testimonies of people with whom he worked.