MADRID, 3 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office has appealed to the Criminal Chamber of the National High Court (AN) the decision of the investigating judge to file piece number 9 of ‘Púnica’ for former Madrid councilors Lucía Figar and Salvador Victoria, demanding that they be prosecuted by the alleged existence of a ‘b box’ in the Madrid PP with which the 2007, 2008 and 2011 elections would have been financed.
According to the legal sources consulted by Europa Press, the Public Ministry has partially challenged the order issued on October 14 by the head of the Central Court of Instruction Number 6, Manuel García Castellón, in the same sense that it reflected in its final report.
García Castellón determined that the facts relating to the 2007 and 2008 elections would be time-barred, but he saw evidence of a crime in those of 2011, specifying that, although the electoral account registered costs of 2.9 million euros -those declared before the Chamber of Accounts–, the total expenses that the municipal and regional elections represented for the Madrid PP amounted to 6.8 million.
For this reason, he prosecuted eight people: the former counselor Francisco Granados and the former manager of the Madrid PP Beltrán Gutiérrez, whom he placed as the most responsible for the alleged plot; as well as Alejandro de Pedro, Borja Sarasola, Diego Mora, Francisco Lobo, Isabel Gallego, José Martínez Nicolás and the companies EICO Reputation Management and Madiva Editorial y Publicidad.
García Castellón pointed to possible electoral crimes, administrative prevarication, embezzlement of public funds, contracting fraud, influence peddling, forgery and bribery.
At the same time, the magistrate filed for the other 71 defendants, including former Madrid presidents Esperanza Aguirre and Ignacio González, as well as for Figar, Victoria, Manuel Lamela, Juan José Güemes, Juan Miguel Villar Mir and Javier López Madrid.
In addition, he rejected the request made by the popular accusation of the PSOE to charge the PP. The instructor reasoned that, first of all, it would be “inappropriate” because the facts are not related to the national party, but, in any case, “with the territorial entity that enjoys full autonomy and self-management for its interests.” And, secondly, because it would be an “unnecessary and useless” accusation, given that the possible crimes are prescribed.
The indictment has also been appealed by the popular accusation exercised by the PSOE, which asks to also prosecute Aguirre and González, and by Granados and Gutierrez, who demand that the same scale be applied to them as to their then superiors.
