The judge summons to declare Tezanos as a defendant on October 29 for alleged embezzlement

The 29th Investigating Court of Madrid has summoned the president of the Sociological Research Center (CIS), José Félix Tezanos, to testify as investigated on October 29, at 12:30 p.m., following a complaint filed by Vox for an alleged crime of embezzlement of public funds.

Legal sources have informed Europa Press that the investigating magistrate has already set a date for the appearance. The decision takes place after the Prosecutor’s Office interested the Court to file the complaint when considering what is exposed “are mere suspicions, conjectures, which improperly relate the ineffectiveness in conducting surveys with the fraudulent administration of the institution CIS ».

The complaint filed by the formation led by Santiago Abascal maintains that the operation of the center since Tezanos was appointed president in 2018 is “irregular.” He accuses him, among other things, of manipulating the way the polls are conducted to benefit the PSOE.

The Prosecutor’s Office, however, assured that the Vox brief did not comply with the necessary assumptions that could legitimize the start of a judicial investigation for the alleged commission of a criminal offense, in particular, a crime of embezzlement of public funds. In this sense, it indicated that the party had not proven “nothing” regarding the existing evidence regarding the commission of the crime denounced.

The Public Ministry insisted that the accusations reflected in the complaint and those included in the expert report are based only on different press reports and television reports, “as well as comments and opinions on networks.” He stressed that “although it is true” that the preparation of surveys is part of the functions assigned to the CIS, this task can be questioned because of its effectiveness without this questioning leading to demanding criminal responsibility.

According to the note released by the Madrid Prosecutor’s Office, the State Attorney -on behalf of the investigated- appealed the admission for processing of the complaint. The legal services argued that the criminal investigation has a prospective character, considering that there is no realization of the facts that are the subject of the complaint. They also defended that there are no indications that justify the crime of embezzlement of public funds.

The complaint

Vox announced last August that the Court of Instruction Number 29 of Madrid had admitted the complaint filed against Tezanos. As reported by the party, the instructor required the CIS to present the work records in which the criteria for the preparation of the encounters between the 2018 and 2020 exercises are agreed or in which there is justification for the “change of techniques” applicable to said instruments. It also requested the program for regulatory compliance and crime control and the annual accounts from 2018 to 2020.

The complaint is based on an expert report in which – according to the party – “the known and notorious deviations towards the PSOE in the results of the CIS reports are clear.”

Vox argues that the document points to “high costs paid by the CIS for outsourced surveys” and makes clear the “lack of rigor” in the performance of the center chaired by Tezanos, which “is not accidental or random” and that “it departs from the technique and professional rigor that should be applied in a public institution at the service of all Spaniards ».