The Prosecutor's Office investigates Pedro Bestard for embezzlement in the use of official cars

PalmaThe Public Prosecutor's Office of the Balearic Islands has opened proceedings against the second vice-president of the Consell de Mallorca, Pedro Bestard (Vox), for alleged embezzlement in the use of the institution's official cars, as reported by Última Hora and confirmed by ARA Balears after accessing the public ministry's proceedings. The socialist group filed a complaint after it became public that Bestard was using these vehicles for his personal use, considering that he could have committed continuous embezzlement of public funds, prevarication, and document forgery.

In the complaint, the socialists accused Bestard of using a series of vehicles from the island institution for private use and exclusively on some occasions, in addition to generating unauthorized expenses, including gasoline. Furthermore, they detailed that these cars had been seen at Vox events, and even parked in front of Bestard's own home. They also pointed out that they were not correctly labeled, which prevented their identification as public vehicles, which they consider may demonstrate an express intention by Bestard himself to keep secret that he was using them. In the same way, they warned that the Department of Environment, which Bestard directed, had fewer cars available to carry out its functions. In parallel, they referred to internal reports that, although they confirmed the private use of the vehicles by Bestard, exonerated him from a sanction, and insisted that they had only analyzed the situation between 2025 and 2026, and that it would also be necessary to investigate what he did before that date.

For all these reasons, the PSIB considers that Bestard could have committed embezzlement for allocating "public assets" to "private uses"; malfeasance, for "the conscious and arbitrary adoption of decisions regarding the exclusive allocation of public resources outside of any procedure and legal coverage"; as well as document forgery for the "repeated lack of supporting documentation" and the "subsequent incorporation of documentation to the files and the possible contradictions between the explanations provided and the documentation examined". For all this, it asks the Prosecutor's Office to investigate.

"Bestard must resign"

The PSIB island councilor Sofia Alonso has once again asked in a press briefing that the second vice president resign from his position due to these events. "Mr. Bestard must resign for coherence and dignity, and if he does not, Llorenç Galmés should dismiss him," she explained. "He has an official car at his disposal and has made use of the cars from the Environment workers' service," she continued: "He has used them to benefit himself, and not to serve the citizens." Thus, she said that the party's "hope" is that the Public Prosecutor's investigation "ends in a lawsuit to further investigate in court and resolve the case".