The trial for the “Koldo case” begins in the Supreme Court (TS) and with it the judicial ordeal for the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE). The former minister, José Luis Ábalos, his former advisor, Koldo García, and the businessman, Víctor de Aldama, will be tried in this trial that will last throughout the month of April with more than a dozen sessions.
The schedule of statements begins this Tuesday, April 7, with a first round in which the son of the former head of Transportation, Víctor Ábalos, Koldo’s brother, Joseba García, Ábalos’ former girlfriend, Jesica Rodríguez, will appear, and in the afternoon the appearance of Aldama’s front man, Alberto Escolano, – who paid the rent for the apartment in Plaza España where Jesica resided – and the driver of the businesswoman who, allegedly, brought wads of cash to Ferraz, Carmen Pano, among many other statements. But, What are the keys to this trial?
Crimes and contract rigging
The magistrates of the Criminal Chamber will listen to more than 80 witnesses, experts and the arguments of the defendants’ defenses to determine if, as the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office claims, there were crimes of bribery, influence peddling, embezzlement of public funds, membership in a criminal organization and use of privileged informationin the contracts awarded to the company of the “plot”, Management Solutions, for the purchase of masks in a pandemic, which is precisely the cause that is being investigated in the Supreme Court, apart from the other ramifications of the case that are being followed in the National Court.
The court chaired by Andrés Martínez Arrieta must determine whether there is sufficient evidence to convict the accused for the “illicit” business of the contracts awarded in March 2020 to Soluciones de Gestión, one of the companies managed by Aldama, coming from the Adif and Puertos del Estado entities, both dependent on the ministry headed by the now “unknown” to Pedro Sánchez, José Luis Ábalos. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the three defendants saw the “opportunity to obtain a common economic benefit” in this contract, with Aldama taking advantage of Ábalos’ position in the Ministry of Transportation. In total, the suspicious purchases amount to more than 53 million euros from this company with hardly any workers and no experience in the health sector.
“Plug” in public companies
The “connection” in public companies, all of them dependent on Transportation, of people linked to the accused is also part of the investigation and the alleged compensation that the members of the alleged criminal organization executed for certain “favors” with Government institutions. Thus, Jesica Rodríguez, at that time girlfriend of former minister Ábalos, and Koldo García’s brother, Joseba, will have to explain before the Supreme Court why they were hired at Ineco and, in the case of Rodríguez, accounting for why he did not go to work, also at Tragsatec.
There were, however, other couples of the former socialist deputy who They also worked at Logirail as the former Miss Asturias, Claudia Montes, although the hiring of Jesica becomes more important due to the intermediation of the then president of Adif, Isabel Pardo de Vera, which in fact led to her being charged in the case.
The plot of “favors” and real estate payments
After the investigations carried out by the agents of the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard, both the Public Ministry and the magistrate maintain that the commission agent played the role of “achiever” of the plot. Among other things, Aldama mediated and made use of his contacts with Koldo and Ábalos to obtain a license for other of his partners to operate in the hydrocarbon sector with the Villafuel company and launch an alleged fraud of more than 182 million. of euros to the Public Treasury.
This, however, is being followed in the Court of Instruction Number 5, whose head is Judge Santiago Pedraz. According to the researchers, Ábalos brokered the obtaining of said license and in exchange enjoyed a chalet in La Alcaidesawhose deposits were paid through companies titled by partners and front men of Víctor de Aldama.
The agents further maintain that Aldama would have paid Koldo 10,000 euros per month in cash for years and that these amounts were shared with former Minister Ábalos. Regarding payments, it must be remembered that the advisor of the former socialist deputy was the “man for everything”, since he was also in charge of paying alimony for those around Ábalos.
Likewise, another issue to be analyzed is whether, in exchange for directing the mask contracts by Transport – State Ports and Adif –, the Interior and the socialist governments of the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, Ábalos was also rewarded with a rental with the right to purchase (which, however, he did not execute) of a luxurious apartment on Madrid’s Paseo de la Castellana for a price much lower than the market price.
As well as whether Aldama paid for out of his pocket, through one of his partners, Alberto Escolano, the rental of the penthouse in the Plaza de España where Jesica Rodríguez was living, or the broker’s efforts to decant the rescue of Air Europa for which Ábalos enjoyed a vacation villa in Marbella during the summer of 2020 and paid for by the company; in addition to those carried out with Carlos Moreno, the then chief of staff of María Jesús Montero in the Ministry of Economy, to postpone a debt that his company Pilot Real Estate also had with the Tax Agency.
Witness calendar
The Chamber will also take statements from witnesses, including senior officials and former officials of public organizations that participated in the awarding of the contracts. Apart from those already named for this Tuesday, the next day it will be the turn of representatives of airline and railway companies, in addition to Claudia Montes and other positions related to the Ábalos environment.
In the following days – April 9, 13, 14, 15, 21, 22 and 23 – the former president of Adif, Isabel Pardo de Vera, the former president of State Ports, Francisco Toledo, the former director of Highways Javier Herrero – both charged in the branch of the “Koldo case” investigated by the judge of the National Court Ismael Moreno -, the former CEO of Globalia Javier will appear before the Supreme Court. Hidalgo and former PSOE manager Mariano Moreno Pavón. The defendants will not testify until the end of the hearing, April 28.
On the other hand, the Supreme Court has accepted that the current Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, and the president of Congress, Francina Armengol, testify as witnesses, although they will do so in writing. Both were at the head of the governments of the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands during the pandemic, communities that also purchased masks from the company related to the plot. However, these contracts are not part of the subject of the trial in the Supreme Court.
However, other witnesses who tried to avoid being present at the trial, hiding behind their positions, such as the director general of the National Police, Francisco Pardo Piqueras, or the president of the Court of Accounts, Enriqueta Chicano, will not be able to do so.
Defenses and Prosecutor’s Office
The Prosecutor’s Office requests a sentence of 24 years in prison for the former Transport Minister and 19 and a half years for Koldo García.either. For Aldama, however, he requests a sentence of 7 years in prison after having been given a simple extenuating circumstance of confession.
The PP leads the legal direction of the popular accusations after the magistrate of the case, Leopoldo Puente, agreed to their unification. But there are also Hazte Oír, the Association of Democratic Lawyers for Europe (Adade) and Iustitia Europa.
The defenses of Ábalos and Koldo defend, however, the innocence of their clients and propose acquittal, also questioning Aldama’s credibility. In fact, Koldo’s defense presented an appeal last week to take the case to the Constitutional Court. In his opinion, the contracts in the pandemic were governed by “criteria of strict necessity” and he links the cash he handled with current expenses of the PSOE.