“False and fraudulent” the returns of Mariana Nogales Molinelli’s mother and her corporation, says witness in court hearing

The hearing of the case for arrest against the representative Mariana Nogales Molinelliin the Court of San Juan, will continue next Tuesday, after the interrogation of the first witness of the Public Ministry will not be completed this Wednesday, Manuel Diaz Saldana, former Secretary of the Treasury and who was also comptroller of Puerto Rico.

During the first day of the so-called Rule 6 appeal hearing, Diaz Saldana opined that, based on his experience and the analysis of a series of documents, the forms of the mother of the representative of the Citizen Victory Movement, Rita Molinelli Freytesand the real estate corporation Ocean Front Villas, between 2017 and 2021, are “false and fraudulent.”

However, Diaz Saldana – who was qualified as an expert from the Public Ministry – has not issued statements about the Nogales Molinelli staff.

The former official expressed that he was part of a working group in the Department of the Treasury, where he serves as an advisor, for the analysis of the tax templates and documents of both the representative, her mother and the corporation. His integration into the group occurred at the request of the agency’s secretary, Francisco Paressaid the witness.

“From the analysis we did, of the deposits, the bank accounts, the depreciation (of the property) and the increase in capital, from the experience that one has, when one sees those reports, that is my conclusion, that the returns are false and fraudulent”he assured.

The Nogales lawyer Molinelli, the attorney Jose Andreu Fuentes, said that Diaz Saldana’s testimony was brought to “try to save face for the Treasury Department after the ridiculousness they made in this case.” Furthermore, he insisted that saying that the returns are false and fraudulent is not enough, since he has to substantiate the reason for that opinion based on specific documents and calculations that evidence his conclusions, something that, from his perspective, has not been proven. brought.

Prosecutor Zulma Fuster indicated, upon leaving room 1007 of the Judicial Center, that Diaz Saldana “is evaluating the evidence after Rule 6 is raised. “He was already on the work team, but we decided to use him as an expert at this stage.”. However, it was not clear as to why it was not brought in the first process.

Upon leaving the room, Nogales Molinelli maintained that “always in cases one is going to hear a version and, then, they are going to hear the true version and that is the one that comes later.”

The representative highlighted that a “task force” has been appointed in the Treasury to investigate it, an act that she classified as “political persecution.” Nogales Molinelli regretted that on October 24, when the appeal hearing will resume, she will not be able to attend the legislative session.

“They make me unable to do my job and not be able to continue supervising because I have to attend to this procedure. “Part of the reason why they are prosecuting me and making me go through this process is so that I cannot work, so that I cannot continue to supervise.”he pointed out.

The motion for an elevated hearing was requested after the judge on May 24 Iraida Rodriguez Castro will only find cause for arrest against Nogales Molinelli on two charges for articles 269 (perjury) and 212 (ideological falsehood). Meanwhile, he exonerated Molinelli Freytes and the real estate corporation.

Earlier, upon arriving at the court, Prosecutor Fuster stated that they were going to an appeal hearing for the 51 charges originally presented and that they had additional evidence in this regard..

The charges, 24 against Nogales Molinelli, 17 against his mother and 10 against Ocean Front Villas, were submitted on May 3 in the Investigation Room of the San Juan Court.

The complaints are related to an alleged omission of information in the reports that Nogales Molinelli presented to the Office of Government Ethics and for apparent tax evasion.