After the explosive judicial statement by Víctor de Aldama – which has put the Government of Pedro Sánchez in check – the judge of the National Court Ismael Moreno interrogates four partners of the commission agent between today and tomorrow – three of them members along with the chat businessman « The four musketeers”, which according to the Civil Guard credits the payments to Koldo García – and to his former secretary. On the first day, Luis Alberto Escolano, whom Aldama used to pay the rent for the Ábalos couple’s apartment, and César Moreno, one of Aldama’s “musketeers”, will testify. The next day, the instructor will listen to the other two, Ignacio Díaz Tapia and Javier Serrano (both were also part of that circle of trust of the commission agent who shared a group in the messaging application) and María Piedad Losada, former secretary of Aldama.
His testimony appears decisive in clarifying the gaps in Aldama’s confession and providing new data that supports the evidence already collected during months of investigation, especially regarding the alleged operations to empty the commission agent’s assets in both Spain and Portugal.
But what are the key questions they will have to face? As people of Aldama’s utmost confidence, they will have to determine whether the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez (whose relationship with Koldo, according to Aldama, was prior to the one he established with Ábalos), was aware of the businessman’s contacts with members of the Government. Likewise, they will be asked if Aldama told them at any time that the contracts with the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands for the supply of masks or Covid detection tests were closed due to his “relationship” with the then regional presidents Ángel Víctor Torres and Francina Armengol.
The accusations also want to know if Aldama’s partners knew Santos Cerdán and since when and if any of the witnesses had any participation in the alleged delivery of 15,000 euros in an envelope in a bar in front of Ferraz’s headquarters to the now Secretary of Organization. of the PSOE.
The judicial statement of César Moreno may be especially illuminating regarding the negotiations with the Chief of Staff of Minister María Jesús Montero for the supposed postponement of a tax claim by the company Pilot Real Estate, which, according to Aldama, had the approval of the vice president.
In the case of Escolano, his testimony is key to knowing where the money with which the rent for the apartment of Jessica Rodríguez, Ábalos’ partner, in Madrid was paid, by order of Aldama, really came from (at a rate of 2,700 euros monthly). And, also, to find out what the threats consisted of, according to the commission agent, he made when he stopped paying for the house in September 2021, two months after Ábalos left the Government of Pedro Sánchez.
For Hazte Oír’s lawyer Javier María Pérez-Roldán, “it is very important to know the content of these threats, since in principle it seems that they were related to publicly revealing certain criminal behaviors either by Escolano or by those around him.”
“Aldama’s associates are the main source – emphasizes the lawyer for the popular accusation – of information about the criminal organization under investigation”, so in his opinion they must clarify “if they knew with which members of the Sánchez Government he had a direct relationship.” Aldama” and if they know “that Sánchez knew or was informed of the economic and commercial operations carried out by Aldama and his partners.”
The Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard indicates in one of its reports that Aldama carried out a “depatrimonialization of his assets in national territory”, for which he would have used a business network in which Escolano, Díaz participated Tapia, Serrano and Moreno. All of them – some of whom maintained “links” with Koldo García – would have acted as alleged front men with the aim, according to the Civil Guard, of “hiding their assets”.
Aldama’s agenda, which his secretary was supposedly in charge of, can also be very illuminating for the investigation. Hence, the interrogation of Piedad Losada can shed light on the businessman’s meetings with Ábalos. But not only with the then minister. Hazte Oír, one of the popular accusations, wants the witness to clarify if Pedro Sánchez or Begoña Gómez ever went to her office and if her agenda includes a meeting in Moncloa with either of them.
The witness will also be questioned in relation to a possible accounting of Aldama’s alleged payments to Ábalos, Koldo and Santos Cerdán. Even about documentary evidence about the 50,000 euros that Ángel Víctor Torres would have requested from the plot on account of the mask contracts. Likewise, he will have to answer about hypothetical meetings between Aldama with Ábalos or any other member of the Government in Mexico or about the PSOE rally in which the businessman coincided with Pedro Sánchez (according to Aldama to meet him and thank him for his efforts in the Aztec country).
The possible arrangements related to the trip of Vice President Delcy Rodríguez to Spain (in which Aldama involved half of Sánchez’s Executive and the president himself), the preparations for the dinner of Sánchez and some of his ministers with Maduro’s number two, to which the accused alluded, and the existence, if applicable, of hypothetical communications between the leader of the PSOE and Aldama will also be put on the table.
As for Javier Serrano, he must clarify the role he played in the awarding of the contracts to Soluciones de Gestión, the company involved in the plot, and whether he participated in any meeting with this objective with the administrations of the Balearic Islands or the Canary Islands. Similarly, he will be asked about the operations to empty Aldama’s assets in Spain and Portugal and in relation to international transfers to companies linked to the Cueto Group led by another of the accused.