The waters move in the Koldo case, the judicial summary opened in the National Court for the alleged plot to collect illegal commissions in operations for the purchase of medical supplies by the Administration during the pandemic, and which affects Koldo García, former advisor to José Luis Ábalos, former socialist minister of Transport. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office has asked Judge Ismael Moreno, who is investigating the case, to summon Jesús Manuel Gómez García, current undersecretary of the Ministry of Transportation, to testify as defendants; Michaux Miranda, who maintains the position of general director of People Management of the public entity Adif; and Álvaro Sánchez Manzanares, former secretary general of the public organization Puertos del Estado who was dismissed in March by the current minister, Óscar Puente.
The public ministry affirms that these three senior officials, during the Ábalos period, “could have exerted certain pressure on the people responsible for the entities that had to award the contracts for the supply of masks, without allowing or giving rise to Other offers or budgets could be examined.” “Taking for granted, and without any option to refute the final award decision, that the final winner was going to be Soluciones de Gestión”, the company at the epicenter of the plot allegedly used to obtain the million-dollar public contracts.
The Anti-Corruption request comes after the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard sent a report to the National Court in which it analyzes the emails exchanged on those dates by different officials of the ministry and in which it was pointed out that the alleged involvement of these three charges. The armed institute highlighted that Undersecretary Gómez García lied to the agents when they questioned him as a witness on February 21. According to the investigators, although the documentation analyzed reveals that this senior official “assumed a key role” for Adif and Puertos del Estado to hire the company involved in the plot, in that statement he assured that he did not participate “directly or indirectly.” ” in the awards. “This statement has turned out to be far from reality after observing the emails,” stressed the document prepared by the UCO. Anti-corruption recalls this indication in its writing and emphasizes that it has found emails in which Gómez García appears to act as a “transmission belt between the immediate sphere of the minister and the contracting entities”, in addition to which the follow-ups revealed that “he had several meetings with Koldo García”.
Regarding Sánchez Manzanares, former Secretary General of State Ports, the Civil Guard report concluded that he “received instructions” from Koldo García, with whom “he had a close relationship,” as evidenced “not only by the telephone interventions and the police follow-ups, but also by the emails sent between the two.” Anticorruption now highlights that this former senior official had a “relevant” role in the hiring of Management Solutions and that he sent an email to one of the businessmen who directed it from the shadows, Víctor Aldama, in which he informed him about the offer presented. by another company with the message “just for your information Victor”. When he testified as a witness, Sánchez Manzanares assured the Civil Guard that he only had contact with the businessman “to resolve an incident related to the transportation of the masks,” as the Prosecutor’s Office now highlights.
Regarding Miranda, who continues to hold the same position in Adif as he did then, the Civil Guard emphasized his direct connection with Koldo García and that he was, according to other officials who testified as witnesses, the manager who was in charge of “managing” the award for the purchase of the masks by this organization. The Anticorruption letter now affects this: “he assumed a relevant role so that the legal procedures were completed by Adif and the contracting could be completed.” The Prosecutor’s Office adds that, from the analysis of the intercepted emails, it appears that Miranda was warned by members of his team that the hiring of Management Solutions represented a greater risk compared to another company that also submitted an offer, “taking into account data such as solvency or the risk of non-payment.” Despite which, he was hired by the plot company. “From the content of some of these emails it is also clear that Michaux received instructions to contract with Management Solutions,” says the Prosecutor’s Office.
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“In principle, without prejudice to further considerations, such conduct could be fit within the contours of the crime of influence peddling,” states the Anti-Corruption letter sent to the judge: “Therefore, in order to guarantee the full effectiveness of the right to defense and prevent material situations of defenselessness from occurring against them, it is considered appropriate that their statements must be taken as investigated. In addition, the public ministry requests that a whole battery of current and former senior officials of the Administration also testify as witnesses, such as Isabel Pardo de Vera, former president of Adif; Francisco Toledo Lobo, former president of State Ports; and Guillermo Martínez de Simón, secretary of the board of directors of Adif.
Fight for competition
At the same time, Judge Moreno asked the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office this Friday to rule on the request made on Thursday by the European Prosecutor’s Office, which has claimed jurisdiction over all the investigations – until now it only had the ramifications in Balares and the Canary Islands, and not those referring to the central government—.
This movement is not trivial and its possible effects are considerable. If the European Prosecutor’s Office finally assumes the powers, this independent body of the EU would direct the entire investigation, to the detriment of Judge Moreno, since from then on the National Court would only have the function of appointing a guarantee judge to monitor measures that affect fundamental rights (for example, telephone tapping). In addition, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office would stop participating in investigations and popular accusations – in the Koldo casethe PP and Vox are represented like this—they disappeared from the scene, since this figure is not contemplated in the processes of the European Prosecutor’s Office, according to legal sources.
It remains to be seen whether all of these changes will occur. Legal sources detail that Anti-Corruption, headed by prosecutor Alejandro Luzón, plans to oppose the request of the European Prosecutor’s Office. So, once Anti-Corruption issues its report on its position, Judge Ismael Moreno must study it and rule on whether to cede jurisdiction over the case to the EU-dependent body or keep it. In the event that he chooses to retain the summary in his possession, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office could appeal to the Supreme Court, which would have the final say on who should continue with the investigations.
As an argument to claim jurisdiction, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office states that the mask purchase and sale scheme was made up of a single corrupt network – of which Koldo García and the businessmen Víctor de Aldama and Juan Carlos Cueto were supposedly part – that operated in different parts. ; and that, therefore, the logical thing is that this EU body is in charge of the entire investigation, since in some of these files it affects money from the European Union budget. Until now, this community department investigated only the contracts awarded by the Executives of the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands. In turn, Anticorruption and Judge Moreno were in charge of investigations into the awards of the central government. According to the EFE agency, Anticorruption considers that this part should not be transferred, since it has not been detected that there are European funds affected in said contracts with the central Administration.
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