The judge of the National Court Santiago Pedraz has released the alleged corruptor of the Koldo case, the businessman Víctor de Aldama, after his voluntary statement before the magistrate investigating the case this Thursday, according to what legal sources have informed Europa Press.
Pedraz himself, chief magistrate of the Central Court of Instruction Number 5, took this measure late this Thursday, and just a few moments after the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office requested the release of Aldama.
Although his statement is part of the Koldo case, which is being investigated by Judge Ismael Moreno, it was Judge Pedraz who had ordered his entry into provisional prison for alleged VAT fraud related to the hydrocarbon sector.
Late in the day, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office released a note in which it justifies the request for Aldama’s freedom due to his “express recognition that the person under investigation has made of the crimes with which he is accused, to the clarification of his commission mechanism and to having even recognized the commission of new crimes, without the Prosecutor’s Office having assessed other aspects of his statement in this decision.”
According to sources from the National Court, the judge has agreed to release him because, as the case is secret, only Aldama’s defense and the Prosecutor’s Office are present, and both parties had requested his release from prison, so Pedraz had to agree to it. Of course, Pedraz imposes a series of precautionary measures on Aldama that consist of weekly appearances before the court, the prohibition of leaving national territory without judicial authorization and the establishment of domicile.
According to legal sources consulted by Europa Press, Aldama presented a new request this Thursday before the Central Court of Instruction Number 5, where he is being investigated for an alleged fraud of 182 million euros in the hydrocarbons sector, together with his partner, Claudio. Rivas, and alleged collaborators and front men.
It was last October 10 when Judge Pedraz ordered the entry of Aldama into provisional prison due to the seriousness of the crime, with the penalty that could be imposed, which, he indicated, could lead the businessman to evade the action of justice. .
Aldama appealed but both Pedraz and the Criminal Chamber of the National Court then ratified his stay in prison. The Chamber appreciated that two of the purposes that the law contemplates to legitimize the provisional detention agreed upon by the investigator occur: risk of flight and possibility of destruction of evidence.
This second request from Aldama to be free came just after he had voluntarily appeared before magistrate Ismael Moreno to testify about the ‘Koldo plot’.
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