He sees no indications to investigate APMT and confirms the decision of the investigating judge
MADRID, 4 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Criminal Chamber of the National High Court (AN) has rejected the charge against APM Terminals Espagna Holdings (APMT) in the piece ‘Pit’ of the ‘Villarejo case’, a claim by the brothers Ángel and Álvaro Pérez Maura as part of the investigation for allegedly hiring CENYT, the commissioner’s business group, to prevent Ángel from being extradited to Guatemala for alleged bribes prior to that company buying a subsidiary from them.
In an order to which Europa Press has had access, the magistrates dismiss the appeal of the Pérez Maura brothers “since there are no indications of criminal responsibility that justify” the accusation. Already in the month of July, the Central Court of Instruction Number 6 agreed to reject the request of the shipping companies to investigate APMT.
Through an appeal, the shipping company Pérez y Cía SL, investigated for an alleged crime of international corruption, argued that the alleged payment of bribes was made by its subsidiary GMTCB so that the Quetzal Container Terminal (TQC), a sub-subsidiary, could obtain the expansion contract for that port in Guatemala.
After receiving the award of the port infrastructure presumably in exchange for bribes and before the scandal broke, the Pérez Mauras sold their participation to APMT, a company that practices in this case as a private prosecution.
It is being investigated whether the Pérez Mauras paid bribes of up to $30 million to high-ranking Guatemalan officials, including former President Otto Pérez Molina and his Vice President Roxana Baldetti, to secure the award to expand Puerto Quetzal.
According to the Criminal Chamber, with what has been investigated so far, there are no indications that there has been any “structural defect in the prevention mechanisms required of the buyer”, which results in her having to be charged with possible criminal liability.
“This is clear, among others, from his attitude after discovering them by initiating an internal investigation,” say the magistrates, who also point to witnesses who have testified against APMT ignoring “any sign of corruption.”
And they remember the content of a 2020 car that gives APMT the status of harmed as “victim of a hoax” by the Pérez Maura shipping company, which would have “directly hidden relevant information from him during the GMTCB sale process”.
The Chamber emphasizes that APMT initiated an internal investigation, dismissed managers who could be related to these events, changed the management bodies, implemented regulatory compliance programs and paid the Treasury pending tax irregularities.
Judge García Castellón started the ‘Pit’ piece of the ‘Villarejo case’ in 2016 when Guatemala asked Spain to hand over Ángel Pérez Maura. The judicial investigations indicate that the brothers would have gone to CENYT to stop that extradition and the then commissioner would have pocketed 7.4 million euros for it.
