VALENCIA (EP/EFE). The Civil Guard has arrested a Koldo García Izaguirrewho was an advisor to the former minister José Luis Ábalos at the head of the Transportation portfolio, for a case of alleged corruption in the purchase of masks during the Covid-19 pandemic.
As advanced The confidential and confirm to Europa Press According to sources of the investigation, the arrest was carried out by the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard for the alleged connection with the collection of bribes in the allocation of masks in the worst months of the pandemic.
The aforementioned sources specify that this is an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and that secrecy has been decreed regarding the actions that affect Koldo García Izaguirre, whom Ábalos appointed as a director of Renfe Mercancías during his time at the head of the Ministry of Transport in the government of Pedro Sanchez and as Secretary of Organization of the PSOE.
In 2020, in response to questions from the PP, Ábalos already had to give explanations in Congress regarding the role of his advisor Koldo García, in this case regarding the meeting in Venezuela with the vice president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez.
García and his supposed partner, the president of Zamora CF, Victor de Aldamadetained in an operation for the alleged collection of commissions for the purchase of masks, will be at the disposal of the National Court on Thursday.
García and De Aldama, who, as investigators suspect, would allegedly be partners in the investigated plot, are part of the five detainees who will appear starting at 9:00 on Thursday before magistrate Ismael Moreno, investigator of the case, according to reports to EFE legal sources. The other fifteen arrested have been released, among them Koldo García’s wife, according to the sources consulted.
Ábalos speaks in the halls of Congress
Ábalos has declared himself “stunned” and “very disappointed” by the arrest of his advisor Koldo García Izaguirre for an alleged collection of commissions on contracts during the Covid-19 pandemic, and in any case he has defended his management at the head of the Ministry of Transportation.
In the corridors of Congress, when asked regarding the arrest of his former collaborator in the Ministry, he said he had no more information than what appeared in the press and assured that he had lost relationship with his former collaborator over the years.
Bites to Transport, Interior and CCAA contracts
The judicial investigation for which García Izaguirre has been arrested investigates alleged bribery in contracts during the Covid-19 pandemic whose material was destined for the Ministries of Transport and Interior, as well as autonomous communities (CCAA) such as the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, as reported. to Europa Press research sources.
This is an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office headed by Central Court number 2 of the National Court, which yesterday authorized the arrest of 20 people, including Koldo García, and around 26 home searches or requests.
As reported by the Prosecutor’s Office in a press release, the proceedings carried out – declared secret – affect several Spanish provinces and are related to alleged criminal acts associated with crimes of criminal organization, influence peddling and bribery, related to the awarding of different contracts from various administrations.
Investigation sources have assured Europa Press that among those detained there is no public office, since the proceedings focus on the role of intermediaries such as Koldo García and the rest of those involved in the contracting of material to face Covid-19 by the Ministries of Transport – -of which Ábalos was head–, that of the Interior and the CCAA of the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands.
These sources indicate that the amount of the contracts of these public administrations exceeds 50 million euros, according to the researchers’ estimate.
Ábalos advisor with controversial profile
Koldo García Izaguirre was an advisor to José Luis Ábalos during the latter’s time as Secretary of Organization of the PSOE and Minister of Transport. His role as a person close to Ábalos was the subject of several controversies, including his participation in the meeting at the Madrid-Barajas airport with the vice president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, which is why the opposition asked for explanations in the Congress.
This advisor was appointed by Ábalos as a director of Renfe Mercancías, among other positions, one of the companies that depend on the Ministry of Transport and whose contracts during the pandemic are now the subject of investigations for the alleged bribes that some intermediaries would have charged.
José Luis Ábalos was Minister of Development between 2018 and 2021, a stage in which he combined the position with that of Secretary of Organization of the PSOE, with Pedro Sánchez as general secretary of the party. He is currently a deputy and president of the Interior Commission in Congress.
