MADRID, 2 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The National Court is investigating seven people in the so-called ‘Koldo case’, the case about the alleged plot that would have paid commissions to obtain awards for the sale of masks in the pandemic. Among those investigated is the aforementioned Koldo García, former advisor to the former Minister of Transportation José Luis Ábalos.
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office attributes alleged crimes of criminal organization, money laundering, bribery, crimes against the Public Treasury and influence peddling to all of them. They were arrested last week within the framework of ‘operation Delorme’, they appeared before Judge Ismael Moreno and remain free.
For the Public Ministry, there is sufficient evidence to conclude that there is “a criminal organization” with “previous agreements” that was dedicated to “obtaining the award” of contracts. The payments would have been obtained by Koldo García “to mediate and obtain” said awards. “Operations would also have been carried out to hide these charges, as well as to avoid the traceability of the income obtained as a result of the irregular awards.”
In total, eight contracts awarded by different Public Administration entities with a global amount of 51,998,434 euros are under scrutiny. Although the summary of the case to which Europa Press has had access includes more than a dozen names, at the moment only seven people are charged and they are:
He gives his name to the case and was an advisor to former Minister Ábalos. According to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, he is the person to whom the plot turned to “streamline” procedures with the Ministry of Transportation in contracting during the pandemic for the sale of masks, facilitating the processes of awarding material to the company Soluciones de Gestión.
According to investigators, Koldo increased his assets by 1.5 million euros between 2020 and 2022, by becoming the direct or indirect owner of movable and immovable property, such as three homes in Benidorm (Alicante), months after public awards to the company of the plot took place.
He is the president of Zamora CF and appears in the summary as the alleged achiever of the plot, given that, at that time he had “a certain prevalence” in the Ministry of Transport, which is why he “would have influenced” the contracts to end up being awarded. to Management Solutions.
Anti-corruption, which considers that De Aldama generated an economic benefit of 5.5 million euros, relates in his complaint that when he learned that Transport needed to acquire medical supplies, as he himself did not have the necessary means or sufficient financing To do it alone, he contacted Management Solutions and the Cueto group, which controlled the company and did have the capacity to execute the contract.
Considered the alleged ‘brain’ of the company at the center of the plot, the Prosecutor’s Office maintains that he had a “direct and close relationship” with Ábalos’ former advisor “that is not limited solely to the awarding of contracts.” According to the Prosecutor’s Office, he would have pocketed 9.6 million euros.
He is the only one of the seven investigated who has so far declared before the judge, whom he assured that with his actions he tried to help the Spaniards, that he did not take advantage of the sale of masks and that the medical supplies were sold accordingly at a price of market, with a slim profit margin. The rest of the defendants took advantage of his right not to testify.
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office identifies him in its complaint as the “main and only shareholder” of Soluciones de Gestión at the time of the award of the investigated contracts. He appears in several conversations related to the efforts for the Balearic Islands claim that were intercepted by the Civil Guard within the framework of the investigation.
From these telephone communications, Benemérita concludes that she is “Juan Carlos Cueto’s trusted person”, the alleged ‘mastermind’ of the plot. According to what she points out in her reports, both of them communicate “daily” about the “procedures carried out through Koldo regarding the claim from the Administration of the Balearic Islands to Management Solutions.”
He is a “second lieutenant of the Civil Guard assigned to the Ministry of Transportation,” according to the Armed Institute. The agents maintain that “they have a relationship with Koldo García” and that “said relationship directly connects the highest level of management of the contracts under investigation, with one of the companies in which part of the profits have been invested.” “.
Investigators place him on at least two occasions in meetings with Koldo García in the seafood restaurant in Madrid where the plot usually took place. They consider that he is a “key player in the management of the investigated contracts since he is credited with having put Cueto and De Aldama in contact with those responsible for the award.”
The Public Ministry refers to her as Koldo García’s partner. As specified, she is the “sole owner” of “a large part” of the movable and immovable assets that would have been acquired mainly with the income of Ábalos’ former advisor, “who only appears as the owner of one of the assets acquired after 2020. “.
As part of the investigation, the judge has agreed to prohibit the sale, tax, transfer and disposal of several of his vehicles and has blocked seven bank accounts in which his name appears.
He is Koldo’s brother and, in the opinion of Anticorruption, he was used to “hide the real ownership of some properties” together with his ex-wife.
Investigators have detected transfers from his accounts to those of Koldo, his wife and his daughter. “It should be noted that he has been a recipient of cash funds in his accounts, which in 2020 reached 130,652.38 euros, 84,907.61 euros in 2021, and 52,125 euros in 2022,” they point out.
