/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/NJBOOLYMLVH3RHOKI7TS2GPUKA.jpg "A Civil Guard commander charged with alleged bribery in the ‘Koldo case’ | Spain")
The investigation of Koldo case add a new piece. Magistrate Ismael Moreno, instructor of the National Court, has charged a commander of the Civil Guard, RV, for his alleged involvement in the plot of illegal commissions with the purchase of masks in the worst of the pandemic, and which affects, among others, to Koldo García, former advisor to former socialist minister José Luis Ábalos. As reported by the court, the judge released the armed institute agent this Wednesday, although he has taken away his passport and prohibited him from leaving Spain. Investigators attribute crimes of bribery and membership in a criminal organization.
RV, stationed at the Spanish Embassy in Venezuela, was arrested on Monday, according to reports eldiario.es. This Wednesday, the civil guard was placed at the disposal of the judge, who questioned him within the framework of a line of investigation declared secret, open to investigate several bank accounts and carry out a new search, as detailed by the National Court.
The Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard, in charge of investigations into the Koldo case, has been focusing its sights on the bowels of the armed institute itself for months, given the possibility that one of its members was tipping off the suspects. For example, last October, they intercepted a conversation between Koldo García and his brother Joseba, also accused, which seemed to show that they knew that this unit was tracking them. In fact, in a letter dated November 6 and sent by the judge, the agents highlighted that “some type of leak coming from the Civil Guard itself” might have occurred, which is why they began an internal investigation.
“It is reported that this unit has proceeded to audit all those databases to which it has access and in which any type of information related to the investigation is found: databases referring to investigation systems, official vehicles used by the researchers or the human resources databases that contain personal data of the researchers themselves. The results of all these efforts will be reported in a timely manner if they are positive and relevant to the cause,” the agents warned in that report of November 6.
Furthermore, these misgivings regarding the tentacles of the corrupt network multiplied when they became aware of another conversation between Koldo García and Juan Carlos Cueto, one of the accused businessmen. According to the UCO, Koldo told Cueto that a businessman from Venezuela “has asked him for help with an issue, and that this businessman wants to attack [Víctor de] Aldama”, president of Zamora CF, also accused of being part of the plot. “Koldo tells him [a Cueto] “that he stayed with this third person from Venezuela because he went with a friend of his ‘from the greens’, who is now going there (in reference to Venezuela) for five years, and for whom he has opened a couple of doors,” the investigators in a report, where they then add: “In relation to the friend ‘from the greens’, what Koldo expressed might be a member of the Civil Guard who has left or is going to go to work for five years Venezuela”.
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RV is the second civil guard involved in the Koldo case. Investigators have already identified José Luis Rodríguez García, a second lieutenant assigned to the security section of the Ministry of Transportation. The Prosecutor’s Office describes Rodríguez as an important piece, who “directly connects the highest level of management of the contracts under investigation, with one of the companies in which part of the profits have been invested.” He was traveling in a high-end car owned by Pizarras Santa Bárbara, one of the companies involved, whose insurance included his name as an employee of said company. He had a “personal” relationship with Koldo García, of “utmost importance to the plot.” The investigations include recent meetings of Rodríguez with Ábalos’ former advisor and with Cueto. He was also arrested by the Civil Guard, who released him.
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