Former Sancti Spíritus sales director sentenced to eight years in prison for corruption

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

Alexis Fuentes de La Cruz, who led the entity from May 2022 to July 2023, was accused of engaging in activities harmful to the economy and irregularities in contracts during his tenure. In a context where the regime claims to be waging a battle against such acts, as evidenced by the case of the former Minister of Economy and Planning, Alejandro Gil FernándezAlso mentioned in the Escambray article, Fuentes de La Cruz still has the option to appeal the conviction.

Legal proceedings and sentencing

According to the court's decision, the court initially convicted the director for ignoring a recommendation warning of “irregularities” in a contractual relationship with a private company. This warning concerned 42,000 units of Pool soda sold to the state-owned company, although they were close to their expiration date.

Additionally, Fuentes de La Cruz was accused of falsifying documents to conceal these irregularities and avoid significant economic losses, which would amount to 3,241,860 Cuban pesos due to the potential non-sale of 22,830 sodas. The report highlights that, despite warnings from Provincial Center for Hygiene, Epidemiology and Microbiology, four of the company's 12 units did not interrupt sales. “These establishments continued to sell the soda at their own risk,” the report notes.

Escambray emphasizes that the accused showed double standards and recalls having reported five cases of embezzlement in units of the company which required declarations from the director. “Today we have stricter internal controls and a more direct approach to fighting crime and corruption in our units. Our inspections are comprehensive and unannounced,” he told reporters.

Other cases of corruption in Sancti Spiritus

This is not the first corruption case to surface in Sancti Spíritus in 2024. Last April, a 26-year-old Cuban was sentenced by the Provincial Court to 18 years in prison for stealing a large sum of money from the Popular camping company In the region. The damage was assessed at a total of 7,968,669.50 Cuban pesos and was detected through continuous money transfers between the entity's accounts. The complaint was filed on May 24, 2023, according to Escambray.

The young man, who was not identified in the report, was a B specialist in economic management in the accounting and financial department of the popular Sancti Spíritus camping company.