Director of Commerce in Sancti Spíritus is sentenced to eight years in prison for corruption

The former director of the Municipal Commerce Company of Sancti Spiritus was sentenced to eight years in prison for corruption, according to a report published in the official newspaper Escambray.

Alexis Fuentes de La Cruz, director of the mentioned entity between May 2022 and July 2023, was accused of being involved in activities harmful to the economy and irregularities in contracting during his tenure.

In a context where the regime is proclaiming a battle against such acts, exemplified in the case of the former Minister of Economy and Planning Alejandro Gil Fernández, cited in the text published in Escambray, the accused, Fuentes de La Cruz, can still appeal the sentence.

According to the court ruling, the Court sentenced the executive in the first instance for ignoring a recommendation that warned of "irregularities" in a contractual relationship that had been made with a private business.

Such warning was related to 42,000 units of Pool soda that were sold to the state-owned company, despite being close to their expiration date.

In addition, they claim that he falsified documents to hide these irregularities and avoid significant economic losses, represented by 3,241,860 Cuban pesos that would result in the company no longer selling 22,830 soft drinks.

In the report, it is emphasized that, despite the warnings issued by the Provincial Center for Hygiene, Epidemiology, and Microbiology, four out of the 12 company units did not stop their sales. "In other words, those establishments continued to sell the soft drink at their own risk," they point out.

Escambray indicates that the accused had a dual behavior and recalls having reported five cases of embezzlement in company units, for which they required statements from the manager.

"Today we have greater internal control and a stronger confrontation against crime and corruption in our units, and the controls we are conducting are comprehensive and direct, without prior notice or notification," he told the press.

This is not the first corruption case that has come to light in Sancti Spiritus so far in 2024. Last April, it was reported that a 26-year-old Cuban was sentenced by the Provincial Court of that province to 18 years of deprivation of liberty for stealing a large sum of money from the Popular Camping Company of the territory.

The damage was valued at a total of 7,968,669.50 Cuban pesos and was detected due to the continuous money movements between the entity's accounts. The report was filed on May 24, 2023, as reported by the Escambray newspaper.

The young man, who was not identified throughout the text, held the position of specialist B in Economic Management at the Accounting and Financial Directorate of the Popular Camping Company in Sancti Spíritus.