He demanded to know the statements of ‘El Pollo’ and of the protected witnesses and police reports
MADRID, 7 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The judge of the National Court (AN) Manuel García Castellón has rejected the request made by the defense of the co-founder of Podemos Juan Carlos Monedero to access material that, according to the judicial account itself, was key to triggering the open investigation in his against for alleged crimes of money laundering and false documentation.
Legal sources have confirmed to Europa Press that the head of the Central Court of Instruction Number 6 has responded in a negative sense to the letter presented on October 7 by the former ‘purple’ leader, where he denounced that he had not yet had access to all the material arisen from the old case on the alleged illegal financing of Podemos –which was archived by order of the Criminal Chamber–, part of which gave rise to the new investigations against him.
Monedero denounced that he was the victim of “absolute defenselessness” because, once he was able to access the digital platform where everything that had been done should be recorded, he realized that this was not the case because there are documents mentioned by the instructor in his resolutions that do not appear.
Specifically, he called attention to two things. On the one hand, a report prepared by the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) on which García Castellón would have relied to separate these investigations from those filed on the alleged illegal financing of Podemos through Venezuela and Cuba, a case that it was reopened as a result of the statements and papers of the former head of Venezuelan Intelligence Hugo ‘El Pollo’ Carvajal.
He also mentioned another police official letter that would reflect that Monedero would be the owner of 92 current accounts, in addition to other documents prepared by the security body.
Secondly, the absence on said platform of the judicial statement given on October 27, 2021 by ‘El Pollo’ before García Castellón in the framework of the aforementioned case on the ‘purple’ accounts.
Along the same lines, he criticized that “there is no reference to the supposed protected witnesses who would have testified in the case”, pointing out that he should at least be able to know that there have been and have appeared, although with “the appropriate guarantees that would allow him to protect his identity”.
Monedero’s defense also criticized the fact that, although the judge announced an expurgation piece –to clean up the investigations of personal data of third parties unrelated to them, which affect other cases or public order–, the resolutions for the that agreed or the criteria followed to do the screening.
It was on July 28 when García Castellón agreed to investigate Monedero by observing a “triangular movement of funds” for the 425,000 euros paid by the Banco del ALBA to the Caja de Resistencia, owned by the former ‘purple’ leader, for a “study comparative”, a money that would have moved to Viu Europa. In addition, he appreciated “inaccuracies” in documents provided by the latter company.
Monedero stated in an appeal against this new investigation that this supposed “triangular movement of funds” is not an indication of any criminal activity, but a “mere reflection of economic relations”, referring to the “payment to a subcontractor or any supplier, for part of a professional or a company, when they receive the money owed by the end customer”.
However, the Criminal Chamber rejected said appeal and endorsed García Castellón’s decision to investigate him for money laundering and document falsification, “as there is an appearance that the origin of funds from an apparently criminal activity is masked” , which would be the sale of Venezuelan oil on the black market.
