The ultra agitator Vito Quiles is once again surrounded by justice. The Court of Instruction number 5 of Alicante has agreed to continue by abbreviated procedure the case opened against him for an alleged crime of fraud, after finding evidence that he would have traveled on nine occasions beyond the destination stated on his tickets.
The resolution, exclusively advanced by 'El Plural', states that Quiles used trains destined for Madrid, Barcelona or Valencia, although he bought tickets that ended earlier, in stations such as Cuenca, Albacete, Calatayud, Zamora or the capital itself.
Renfe has calculated that the ultra paid 308.80 euros for journeys whose full price amounted to 780.45 euros. The claimed difference reaches 471.65 euros. The company adds another 400 euros for the use of 'Executive' services without having a ticket that allowed him access to them, so the direct economic damage amounts to 871.65 euros.
The judge provisionally attributes the facts to Vito Zoppellari Quiles, his full name, and considers that there are sufficient elements to move towards the pre-trial phase. Quiles maintains the presumption of innocence and will still be able to exercise his defense before the opening of the oral trial is decided.
Cut tickets and full journeys
Among the trips included in the order appear several journeys between Alicante and Madrid in which Quiles would have paid only up to Cuenca-Fernando Zóbel or Albacete-Los Llanos. Also included is a trip from Madrid to Barcelona with a ticket that ended in Calatayud and another between Madrid and Valencia paid only up to Cuenca.
The resolution also includes a trip from Ourense to Madrid for which he would have bought a ticket destined for Zamora. According to information published by 'El Plural', this mechanism was repeated up to nine times.
Renfe already explained in May that it decided to go to court after detecting repeated conduct. The public company had described another episode in which Quiles traveled from Alicante with a ticket to Albacete, occupied a comfort seat that he had not contracted either and continued to Madrid. In that case, he ended up paying the difference after the inspector intervened.
The company also denounced the "reputational damage" caused by the dissemination of these practices on social media. During the investigation, Quiles was summoned twice by the court. The first appearance was suspended because he could not be located and, according to Renfe, he also did not attend the second despite being duly notified.
Procedurally, the order closes the investigation phase and opens the process in which the accusations must decide whether to request the opening of an oral trial, present their indictment briefs, or request the dismissal of the case. The expression "custodial sentence not exceeding nine years" included in the resolution reproduces the general limit established by the Criminal Procedure Law for using the abbreviated procedure.
This reference does not yet constitute a request for nine years in prison against Quiles. The Penal Code punishes the basic form of fraud with penalties ranging from six months to three years. The final classification and possible conviction will depend on the briefs presented by the Prosecutor's Office and the other parties, as well as the assessment made by the court if the case goes to trial.
The railway procedure adds to the other legal fronts open around the ultra agitator. A judge in Seville already agreed to continue another case against him for alleged insults and slanders against the general secretary of Facua, Rubén Sánchez. The Prosecutor's Office also promoted an investigation into the donations collected by Quiles for various supposedly charitable campaigns.
Within Congress, Quiles also has several sanctions for interrupting press conferences and recording in spaces where he lacked authorization. The repetition of infractions has left him on the verge of definitively losing the accreditation with which he accesses the Lower House.
The Prosecutor's Office and Renfe must now rule on the opening of an oral trial for the trips made with tickets that ended before the route followed by Quiles.
