Deadline in the ‘Villarejo case’ to take a decision key decision about the Ibex 35 companies that have been affected by the macro-cause. iberdrola, BBVA, Repsol Y CaixaBank There have been four of the great companies in the country that, together with their first swords, have had to stand before a judge for requiring the services of the retired commissioner José Manuel Villarejo. A controversial policeman who, under a beret and hiding behind a briefcase, spied on important figures from the business and political world for decades. After more than three years of investigation, these companies will start in 2023 with the focus on the National Court, pending to see if the judge in charge of scrutinizing the private work that the undercover agent carried out while he was still active in the National Police puts end point to the investigations focused on them.
The magistrate has until January 29 to determine if it closes or keeps open the investigations into the orders that the listed companies made to the Cenyt Group, the business network led by Villarejo. The date is not random. This is the last day of validity of the last six-month extension -as established by law- that judge Manuel García Castellón gave to the majority of separate pieces that make up the macro cause open since the arrest of Villarejoin November 2017.
Specifically, Iberdrola and BBVA are especially awaiting the future of the investigations in which they have been directly involved and whether any of the defendants go to trial. On the other hand, there are Repsol and CaixaBank, whose procedural situations are pending on the decision made by the Criminal Chamber of the National Court, which has to confirm or revoke the file that, for the second time, was agreed upon by the case instructor.
Three similar investigations
Three very similar lines of research and with many elements in common. Four companies that at some point required the services of Villarejo to face some type of offensive. The links with Cenyt were the then Heads of Corporate Security of the contracting companies, who knew the commissioner from his previous stages in the National Police.
Also a common strategy in all the defendants. The ex-responsibles of said area assured that they had no idea of the true status of the controversial commissioner, that is to say, that he worked simultaneously for the Police and for his private clients, which is incompatible. And the top managers of the companies stressed that his functions focused on strategic and representational mattersso that the selection and contracting of suppliers resided at lower levels, thus unloading the possible responsibilities on the lower managers.
This was revealed by the former president of BBVA Francisco González on the two occasions in which he has testified before the judge (the last one voluntarily) since he was charged in 2019. The same approach was exposed in May 2021 when the president of Repsol, Anthony Brufauand that of La Caixa Foundation (and previously of CaixaBank), Isidro Faine, they insisted in their statements that they did not give orders to hire Villarejo nor did they have the obligation to supervise the assignments to external companies. And in January 2022, the president of Iberdrola, Ignacio Sánchez Galán, also said so.
case by case
This file served, to a large extent, for Judge García Castellón to decide, more than a year and a half ago, to free Brufau and Fainé and their companies from the ‘Villarejo case’, considering that they had no type of responsibility in the order to stop the alliance of Sacyr Vallehermoso and the Mexican oil company Pemex with the aim of gaining control of Repsol. In this way, the magistrate understood that the ‘fault’ of this irregular contract lay with the heads of Security, who are already one step away from the trial.
However, the Criminal Chamber of the National Court considered that the dismissal was “precipitate” and ordered the reopening of the case. After taking the appropriate steps to follow the Chamber’s mandate, the examining magistrate reiterated the disputes last June, which the Chamber now has yet to confirm, which would mean definitively leaving the top leaders of Repsol and CaixaBank out of the case, since the companies themselves.
As for the proceedings against BBVA and Iberdrola, everything points to the fact that They will follow the same steps as the other two. Sources close to the investigation indicate that the judge and prosecutors are studying whether they can already leave these two pieces finished. The case of electricity is much more advanced. before the summer, the judge archived the proceedings against Sánchez Galán and against the subsidiary Iberdrola Renovables Energía, after one year of imputation, by statute of limitations. Thus, the alleged responsibility for relations with Villarejo remained with the former head of Security, who admitted to rigging invoices.
Lastly, for BBVA, what the judge decides will be relevant. The bank is accused since 2019 along with a dozen exalted officials and its former president Francisco González for some assignments that began with the hiring of the spy to stop Sacyr’s attempted assault on the bank’s board of directors.
Thus, Repsol, CaixaBank, Iberdrola and BBVA are facing a final ‘sprint’ that will mark the businesses planned for the new year.
The three separate pieces
BBVA. The investigation into the bank was opened at the end of 2018, being one of the first in the Villarejo case. The judge investigates the various jobs that the former police officer carried out between 2004 and 2017, for a total amount of 10.3 million euros, to spy on politicians, businessmen and journalists. It is one of the most complex separate pieces and the one that accumulates the most documentation, in which from the beginning he has presided over the crossing of accusations between those investigated.
Iberdrola. The judge has been investigating since October 2019 the contracts that the electric company also carried out between 2004 and 2017 with Cenyt to avoid obstacles to their business projects or investigate potential competitors. More than one million euros were paid for these services.
Repsol and Caixa. The judge agreed to the formation of this line of investigation in December 2019 to clarify the payment of more than 400,000 euros to the Villarejo companies to nullify the attempt by Sacyr Vallehermoso and the Mexican Pemex to assault the Spanish oil company. At the moment, the former heads of Security Rafael Araujo (Repsol) and Miguel Ángel Fernández Rancaño (CaixaBank) are already one step away from the bench together with the controversial police officer.
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