The judge who is investigating the largest outbreak of listeriosis in Europe has ordered the opening of the oral trial against the six investigated and has ordered five of them to present, as civil culprits, a joint and several bond of around five million euros as compensation to the victims: the relatives of the four deceased, the seven couples who suffered abortions and the more than 240 people who were affected.
The magistrate considers the Seville City Council subsidiary civil liability, as it appears in the order, dated this Monday and known this Tuesday.
More than three years have passed since on August 15, 2019, the Junta de Andalucía decreed the health alert for an outbreak of listeriosis found in several batches of La Mechá, the brand of shredded meat made by the Seville company Magrudis.
During the investigation into the origin of the infection and the consequences, a succession of negligence and a disregard for food safety and the health of consumers by the owners of the meat shop were uncovered.
For this reason, the courts accused José Antonio Marín Ponce, de facto administrator of the factory, his sons Sandro and Mario and his wife María Jesús Rodríguez for a crime against public health in competition
with four crimes of reckless homicide, seven crimes of injury to the fetus due to serious negligence resulting in abortion, and 245 crimes of injuries due to serious negligence.
The judge also considers the municipal veterinarian María José OB responsible for the same crimes, in charge of carrying out the mandatory inspections of the company, and has rejected the request for dismissal that the Seville city council had requested for her.
The order to open the oral trial also includes the architect Sergio LG who signed the documentation of the responsible declaration and which was plagued with irregularities.
He and Marín Ponce and his son Sandro are accused of forging an official document.
The latter two, in addition to Mario and María Jesús, the judge also considered the perpetrators of a minor crime of electricity fraud, after discovering during the investigation that the Magrudis ships were illegally hooked up to Endesa's supply.
The order includes requests for compensation for the victims both from the Prosecutor's Office, as well as from the accusations that represent the deceased, those who have suffered abortions and the injured, as well as the Junta de Andalucía and the Seville City Council.
The head of the Investigating Court number 10 of Seville has concluded that Marín Ponce and her son Sandro must submit within one day a "solidarity bond" of 5,166,688.50 euros (homicides, abortions, injuries, compensation to the Board and the City Council)” and 3,060 euros “as pecuniary responsibility”.
For Mario Marín and his mother, María Jesús Rodríguez, he requests that in the same period a payment of 5,166,688.50 euros (homicides, abortions, injuries, compensation to the Board and the City Council) "and 1,440 euros" as pecuniary responsibility ”.
For the municipal official, it establishes a solidarity bond of 5,025,648.40 euros (homicides, abortions, injuries, compensation to the Junta de Andalucía) and for the accused Sergio LG one of 1,440 euros as pecuniary responsibility.
In addition to the defendants, the judge has also claimed the company Magrudis SL and Elaborados Cárnicos Mario —which shared headquarters with the first— so that in the same period they also present a joint bond of 5,166,688.50 euros (homicides, abortions , injured, compensation to the Junta de Andalucía and the Seville City Council), and another of 36,000 euros as pecuniary liability.
The magistrate has appointed the insurance companies of both Magrudis, Axa, as well as those of the veterinary medicine, Zurich and AIG, to respectively deposit a joint and several bond in the amount of 5,166,688.50 euros, and to the Seville City Council "5,025,648.40 euros (homicides, abortions, injuries, compensation to the Junta de Andalucía), in order, according to the judge, to ensure the pecuniary responsibilities that, ultimately, could be imposed on him", with the warning that, if he does not provide the different established bonds in the order, "sufficient assets will be seized to secure the indicated sum."