José Luis Ábalos will finally testify as a defendant in the Supreme Court on a voluntary basis on Thursday, December 12, in the Koldo case. The Supreme Court has summoned him again for that day after the former minister has rectified and agreed to appear, after unsuccessfully requesting that he be given more days to examine the case. At first, the judge had rejected his request to testify later and had announced that, in any case, he would call him to testify through a request. Ábalos’s announcement that he agrees to testify on the 12th voluntarily has led the judge to summon him again that day.
The Supreme Court took charge of the ramification of the Koldo case that affects José Luis Ábalos and his time as a minister and its first move was to offer him to testify as a defendant voluntarily. An appearance scheduled for this Thursday, December 12, a few days before the non-voluntary appearance of businessman Víctor de Aldama and Koldo García, former advisor to Ábalos in the Ministry. Ábalos requested to delay this voluntary declaration, alleging that he had not had time to analyze the entire case.
The instructor, Judge Leopoldo Puente, had communicated this morning that it is not possible to delay a voluntary declaration, nullifying the summons and explaining that, if summoned, it will be through the usual channel in a case against a certified person: asking a request to the Congress of Deputies. The law allows him to declare voluntarily but that does not imply, he adds, “that he can do so at the time he considers most appropriate, also freely determining the tempo of the performances.”
Allowing a delay in the calendar for the voluntary declaration, the judge added, “could also seriously harm the effectiveness of the investigation,” which can only be directed in incriminating terms with respect to the person certified from the moment in which the request results. granted by the Chamber of which the certified person is a part.” The judge fears that a second summons could end in the same way, something that would cause “undue delays”, but also “could disturb the good purpose and effectiveness of the investigation”.
The former minister’s defense has communicated in writing to the Supreme Court that, after learning of the judge’s refusal, he is willing to appear voluntarily on December 12 and the judge has signed the summons again for that day.
The case initially baptized as the Delorme operation and today known as the Koldo case began in the National Court, with Judge Ismael Moreno investigating whether the former advisor of José Luis Ábalos led a corrupt plot with several businessmen to benefit from million-dollar contracts during the pandemic in exchange for commissions and gifts. One of these businessmen, Víctor de Aldama, obtained awards from several public administrations worth more than 53 million euros. The investigations of the Central Operational Unit of the Civil Guard finally pointed to the role of the then minister as a preferred contact of the organization, including the collection of commissions and other gifts.
The statements of Aldama and Koldo
To date, Ábalos has always denied the facts and has shown his intention to testify on several occasions. Not having done so voluntarily would have forced the judge to request a request from the Congress of Deputies, which lengthens the process and introduces several internal procedures in the lower house. For example, that the request has to be debated and voted on.
In the coming weeks the instructor has marked two more statements on the calendar, although these are not voluntary: those of Víctor de Aldama and Koldo García. In the case of the businessman, his appearance as an investigator comes after being released after confessing for two hours in the National Court that is investigating him for the hydrocarbons case, an alleged fraud in which he is also accused.
The National Court sent his confession to the Supreme Court, where Víctor de Aldama himself has presented 37 additional pages explaining the accusations he has leveled not only against José Luis Ábalos but also against other members of the Government such as Ángel Víctor Torres, the organizational secretary of the PSOE. Santos Cerdán or a senior official of the Ministry of Finance.
The most voluminous accusation is the alleged exchange of commissions, in his case more than 100,000 euros, for intermediating in public awards of road works. The current minister of the branch, Óscar Puente, has defended that his department will send information about the case to the Supreme Court but has questioned Víctor de Aldama’s accusations when he understands that a minority of the contracts he points to were awarded with Ábalos as minister. .
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