The investigation by the Civil Guard regarding the role of José Luis Ábalos in the corruption plot known as the ‘Koldo case’ places the old corruption, consisting of perks in exchange for concessions and public money, in the ministry of the first Government of Pedro Sánchez. The evidence collected and its aesthetics go back to the major cases of the 2000s and the following decade with the aggravating factor that they now affect the person who was a Government Minister. The enjoyment of a chalet in exchange for his intercession in contracts or the payment of rent for his partner’s home are the most significant examples.
The statements of the Civil Guard in a 233-page report are forceful when referring to the former minister, to whom they attribute a “relevant and responsible role.” Gone are Ábalos’s public appearances, firmly defending his innocence, disappointed with his party for having been expelled and denouncing a conspiracy against him. “I am not part of any plot and the most important thing is that I did not benefit from anything at all,” he said this Thursday after learning of the report from the Civil Guard that asks to investigate it.
However, the conclusions of the Civil Guard have already been taken into consideration by the judge of the National Court, Ismael Moreno, who addressed Congress this Thursday to formally learn about his status as certified. Rank-and-file deputy, no longer affiliated with the Socialist Party, where he became the number twothe former Minister of Transport must be investigated by the Supreme Court, before which he is seated. The judge’s first steps anticipate that he will ask the High Court to formally open a criminal case against him.
The Koldo case has the aggravating factor of the moment in which the events occurred. Public money came from administrations with less strict controls due to the COVID emergency situation and the situation was taken advantage of by commission agents and businessmen willing to commit crimes to make a profit. In the case of Víctor Aldama, the “corrupting element” of the Koldo case, according to investigators, his penetrating power reached the engine room of the Ministry of Transportation.
An incursion facilitated by Koldo García, who went from brothel doorman or security guard – convicted of beatings – to Ábalos’s advisor and right-hand man, with a lot of influence in the Ministry and seat on the boards of directors of several public companies. A “unique and direct” relationship was forged between the two starting in the summer of 2018, fueled by the gifts of the businessman, who paid him 10,000 euros in cash for months, in addition to other extraordinary remuneration. In exchange, the advisor provided him with “privileged information” and access to “higher authorities,” including Ábalos, whom the members of the plot called ‘the boss’.
Your partner’s luxury rental
Ábalos’s departure from the Ministry occurred three years ago, but it was never explained either in the Government or in the PSOE. Amid rumors about the influence of his private life on his work as a minister, the doubt about the true reason for the dismissal is brought back to the fore by the UCO report that leads to his indictment.
After a year of investigation, this police report reveals for the first time the “compensation” that he would have received as a result of his efforts for the plot. At the moment, there are no bribes in the form of cash payments. But there are other gifts that have brought to light seven months of telephone taps, hundreds of intercepted emails and the dumping of 170 electronic devices – including cell phones and computers – confiscated from members of the network and people linked to it.
The UCO investigations prove that Aldama paid up to 32 monthly rent payments for the apartment where a woman named Jessica resided, who at that time had a romantic relationship with the former minister. A luxury apartment, located in the Torre de Madrid building in the Plaza de España in the capital, and for which 2,700 euros per month were paid.
Through an alleged front man and people and companies under his control, the alleged achiever paid that income from March 2019 to September 2021. In total, 82,298 euros. In addition, the woman was hired as an administrative assistant at Ineco, a company dependent on Transportation, where she reported her tasks to Joseba García, Koldo’s brother, and was also placed in that public company.
A chalet worth half a million euros
It was not the only gift that Ábalos received according to the Civil Guard. The UCO also considers in its report that there is “multiple evidence” that it made “real use” of a luxury villa located in the La Alcaidesa urbanization, near Sotogrande, purchased by Aldama through other alleged front men. “In the presence of evidence (…) it would link Ábalos’ participation in the investigated contracts with the purchase by Aldama of a villa for the former minister himself,” appears in the report that is already in the judge’s possession.
The emails analyzed by the UCO show how the then minister even suggested to his advisor several properties in that urbanization during the previous months. In fact, the first of these emails with links from the Idealista real estate platform occurred just four days after the award of one of the mask contracts to the company investigated by the Ministry of the Interior.
The police unit also assures that the advisor was in charge of those “details” that could be of interest to his boss, such as the destination of the existing furniture in the house. “Koldo would have been in charge of selecting the property with the criteria received from Ábalos,” says the UCO. A selection that was resolved in January 2021.
According to the police report, Aldama managed the purchase of the villa for 526,500 euros using, first, some Venezuelan businessmen; and, later, using another fraud attributed to him in the hydrocarbon sector for which he was sent to prison this Thursday. In exchange, businessman Claudio Rivas – also imprisoned this Thursday – intended to receive a license to sell fuel. On July 10, a month after the signing of the house, Ábalos was dismissed.
Half a year later, in December 2021, the Ministry of Industry denied giving Claudio Rivas’s company the title to operate in the wholesale hydrocarbon market. The decision angered the businessman, who warned Aldama that the new scenario was going to “bring problems” and “very serious ones.” The UCO sees “a cause-effect relationship between the refusal by Industry and the eviction of Ábalos from the chalet.”
The Civil Guard also links these “compensations” with Ábalos’s efforts in favor of the company that won the million-dollar mask contracts during the pandemic. Thus, it relates “the decision to contract with Management Solutions [la empresa adjudicataria de los contratos bajo sospecha] with the purchase by Aldama of a chalet for the enjoyment of the former minister himself.” In fact, the report limits to Ábalos the final order that led a public entity within the ministry’s perimeter—State Ports—to contract with that company. The contract amounted to 20 million euros.
The police document includes email exchanges between senior officials of that entity that show that it was Ábalos himself who “was in charge” of the contract. “I told him (sic) that he was taking the steps directly,” wrote the former Secretary General of State Ports, Álvaro Sánchez Manzanares – charged and dismissed last March by Óscar Puente – to Koldo García in reference to Ábalos. The researchers conclude that the actions of the then minister “would have been crucial for the execution of the contract between Puertos del Estado and Soluciones de Gestión to be carried out, regardless of whether there were subsequent offers that offered better conditions.”
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