The National Court orders the judge in the ‘Koldo case’ to summon Javier Hidalgo, former CEO of Globalia, as a witness

The former CEO of the Globalia Group, Javier Hildalgo, will finally have to appear before the National Court to testify as a witness in the so-called Koldo case, in which the alleged corruption in the purchase of masks by the Ministry of Transportation and other public organizations at the beginning of the 2020 pandemic is investigated. The Second Section of the Criminal Chamber has partially revoked an order by Judge Ismael Moreno , instructor of the case, who on May 13 refused to carry out this procedure, which had been requested by Liberum, an association that emerged during the pandemic linked to denialist movements and which in this summary exercises the popular accusation. The three magistrates of the court consider, against the criteria of Moreno and the Prosecutor’s Office, that Hidalgo’s testimony is “useful and pertinent,” and order the judge to summon him to testify. They reject, however, the summons from the board of directors of another company in the business group.

The decision of the National Court comes after Liberum appealed the order of Judge Moreno who refused to summon as a witness the former CEO of Globalia until 2021. This is one of the companies that was in charge of transferring part of the sanitary material acquired by the Ministry of Transport thanks to the mediation of Koldo García, one of the key characters in the alleged plot from his position as advisor to the then socialist minister, José Luis Ábalos. The association – which has also unsuccessfully asked Begoña Gómez, wife of President Pedro Sánchez, to testify in the case – argued that Hidalgo, who at that time held a management position at Globalia, had “knowledge” of the contracts under investigation because, for one On the one hand, the group was hired by Soluciones de Gestión, the epicenter company of the plot, to carry out said transportation and, on the other hand, it paid the company MTM 180 Capital, owned by one of the alleged ringleaders of the plot, the businessman Víctor de Aldama. , for his mediation in this business.

Judge Moreno, with the support of the Prosecutor’s Office, rejected the summons, considering that Hidalgo’s relationship with Soluciones de Gestión and with Aldama was limited to the transport of masks, a task in which other companies also participated, and the appearance of their executives has not been raised. But the Court now agrees with Liberum, considering that the testimony of the former Globalia executive is “useful and pertinent for the exact knowledge of the terms under which the services of transport of medical supplies” acquired by the ministry headed by Ábalos at the worst moment of the pandemic have been provided.

The court recalls that Hidalgo’s business group received payments for these jobs from Soluciones de Gestión and, in turn, “apparently also paid a sum of money as a commission to the suspect Víctor de Aldama” through one of his companies. The Court stresses that Aldama is “professionally related” to Soluciones de Gestión, a company that he supposedly controlled together with another of the main suspects, the businessman Juan Carlos Cueto.

The Court therefore concludes that Hidalgo’s summons is “useful for the complete clarification of the alleged events” and orders that he be questioned as a witness. What it does reject is the questioning, as also requested by the public prosecution, of Leticia Lauffer, CEO of Wuakalua Hub, a subsidiary of Globalia dedicated to the tourism sector. The judges consider that the investigation has not revealed any relationship between Lauffer and the contracts under suspicion and, therefore, her statement is not justified.

Hidalgo is summoned to appear in the Senate commission that investigates the Transportation contracts with the plot of the Koldo case at the request of the PP, although it has not yet occurred. He was also summoned in the open, for the same facts, in the Balearic Parliament, although at the last moment the popular and Vox, who were the ones who had requested it, withdrew it convinced that, as Koldo García had done, for example, They would not go to the commission of inquiry.

_