The co-founder of Podemos has been investigated since 2021 for an invoice of 26,200 euros related to a consultancy to Neurona
MADRID, 14 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Central Cybercrime Unit of the National Police has ruled out that the co-founder of Podemos Juan Carlos Monedero –investigated in the so-called ‘Neurona case’– manipulated the emails containing the 26,200-euro invoice that he issued to the consultant for some services rendered, so it eliminates the suspicions that the examining magistrate had that the document was false.
In an official letter, to which Europa Press has had access, the agents have explained that Monedero “does not have the ability to modify an email already sent”, since “this data is stored in services managed by Google to which users do not have access (…) beyond being able to send or receive”.
Purse has been investigated in the ‘Neurona case’ since 2021 for an invoice issued on December 30, 2018 for a value of $30,000 for “300 hours of face-to-face consulting in Buenos Aires, Mexico and Colombia” for which on January 25 of 2019 received a bank income of 26,200.31 euros from Neurona Consulting.
Both the judge and the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) of the Police believed that it was a false invoice that would cover up an alleged commission that Monedero would have received for his alleged mediation for Podemos to hire the Spanish subsidiary of Neurona Consulting – -Neurona Comunidad– for the general elections held on April 28, 2019.
In his statement dated March 15, 2021, Monedero denied that the invoice in question was false and attributed the errors it contained to the fact that he is not an expert in making invoices. That same day he provided some ’emails’ with a Mexican Neurona partner, which included the trips made and the hours of work attributable to each one, and an attached document called an ‘invoice’. He also gave a history of the tickets issued in his name by Iberia in 2018 that included flights to Mexico, Colombia and Argentina.
The head of the Investigating Court Number 42 of Madrid asked the UDEF to check the dates of the emails, at the same time that he asked Iberia to deliver the plane tickets that appear in the flight history. In turn, he claimed from Monedero himself the content of the ‘links’ of the acts in which he participated during his work trips for Neurona.
In March 2022, the UDEF issued a report in which it concluded that Monedero issued a “false and ad hoc” invoice with the aim of “masking the real reason” for which it received the 26,200 euros from Neurona. Faced with such a conclusion by the agents, the defense of the co-founder of Podemos presented a letter in which he accused the Unit of “misrepresenting the truth” in its report.
Now, the Cybercrime Unit –by virtue of a request made by the court last January– has verified the “authenticity” of the emails and has ensured that Monedero has not been able to “alter” or “manipulate” their content.
