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Judge Ismael Moreno, instructor of the Koldo case in the National Court, assures in a document known this Thursday that the former socialist minister José Luis Ábalos acted as an “intermediary” of the plot to which Koldo García, his former advisor in the Ministry of Transportation, supposedly belongs. Ábalos, according to this thesis, mediated just a couple of months ago to try to solve the problem that the corrupt network had in the Balearic Islands, where the regional government, already in the hands of the PP, demanded from the company Soluciones de Gestión the return of 2.6 million for a contract for defective masks signed in 2020. This claim had been initiated in 2023 by the previous Balearic Executive, chaired by the PSOE – he had issued a warning to the company in March and had formally activated the claim in July, being already in office. —, but it had to be carried out by the new Government of Marga Prohens, of the PP.
Ábalos, who is registered before the Supreme Court due to his status as a deputy, is not accused in the case (for this, the investigation should be sent to the high court) nor does his name appear in the complaint filed in September 2023 by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. .
The Government of the Balearic Islands, which was then chaired by the socialist Francina Armengol, purchased almost one and a half million FFP2 masks from Soluciones de Gestión in April 2020 – the company that is at the center of the entire investigated plot – and paid 3 for them. .7 million euros. But when the masks arrived, they turned out to be surgical type (with a much lower level of protection), so the Balearic Executive kept them in a warehouse because they could not be used for health personnel. It was not until three years later, in March 2023, when the Armengol Government warned the company, warning it that it would take “appropriate measures” in the event of breach of contract. On July 6, 2023, with the Government already in office – the PSOE had lost the May elections – the socialists quantified the alleged fraud committed by Management Solutions: 2.6 million. The claim procedure already had to be completed by the new Government, the PP, and it was the PP that formally notified the company of the claim on August 24.
As Judge Ismael Moreno now explains in his resolution, on December 7, 2023, when there were barely two months left before the arrests of the main people involved, Koldo García telephoned businessman Juan Carlos Cueto, one of the alleged ringleaders of the network, and He informed him: “Everything is on the right track.” Next, the former socialist collaborator added: “I will use my means to put you in touch.” A week later, on December 14, García reported that the issue of the Balearic Islands file was “more than done.” “The observation of communications and operational activity carried out by the acting unit [de la Guardia Civil] “have allowed us to conclude that these intermediaries would be José Luis Ábalos and Jacobo Pombo,” says the judge, who cites a report from the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the armed institute, advanced this morning by The world.
The magistrate continues like this: “In this sense, on January 10, 2024, Koldo meets, among other people, with José Luis Ábalos in a reserved area of the La Chalana seafood restaurant, between approximately 9:15 p.m. and 10:20 p.m., as reflected in the police profession. This meeting between Koldo and Ábalos is of special interest for the facts investigated, given the telephone conversation held the previous day between Cueto and Koldo, in which Cueto asked him, before he left for a trip to Peru on 11 January 2024, say something to a third party. In fact, Koldo informed Cueto that one of the things to discuss with one of the people he will meet the next day—when he meets with Ábalos—was that. It is understood that he was referring to the efforts made with the Balearic Administration to resolve the claim of 2.6 million euros made to Soluciones de Gestión y Apoyo a las Empresas SL.
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Socialist sources insist that, at the beginning of January, when that meeting took place, the PSOE was no longer governing in the Balearic Islands. The team of the former Executive of the socialist Armengol maintains that it warned the company in March 2023, warning it that it was going to take measures to initiate the claim for the money for the masks purchased in 2020, reports Lucia Bohórquez. In May 2023, the regional elections will be held and the PSOE loses the Balearic Government. On July 6, the still acting Socialist Executive signs a report to open the claim and estimates the money that must be returned at 2.6 million euros. On July 7, the new Government of Marga Prohens, of the PP, takes office. And, on August 24, he formally notified the company of the claim. The file is now in the study phase of the allegations of Soluciones de Gestión SL, which refuses to return the money.
The problems of the corrupt plot in the Balearic Islands – which has to face a million-dollar claim from the administration – began, therefore, with a PSOE Government, but have been, since August, in the hands of one from the PP. In one of the briefs in the summary, Judge Moreno highlights the “influence” of Koldo “taking advantage of the situation derived from his personal relationship,” not only with “authorities” but also with “public officials.”
Meetings and active relationship
The judge of the National Court maintains that Koldo García maintained a close relationship with the ringleaders of the plot: businessmen Juan Carlos Cueto and Víctor de Aldama (the latter, president of the Zamora Football Club). Not only during his time as Ábalos’ advisor in the Ministry of Transportation (2018-2021), but years after the suspicious contracts were awarded. They continued talking and seeing each other, according to the summary. In this sense, the judge emphasizes that Cueto “not only informs Koldo about what is related to these contracts, but also resorts to him to influence those issues that are related to them.”
“Thus, in relation to the help that had been requested by the Balearic Public Administration to Management Solutions for almost three million euros, due to a question related to the state of the masks that it once supplied to that organization, “In this period of investigation Koldo García has influenced a third party – unknown – to contact Cueto and they can reach an agreement.” This is stated by the magistrate, who is investigating the case for crimes of criminal organization, influence peddling, money laundering and bribery. The Anti-Corruption complaint was initially directed against seven people, but the list of defendants has grown. Last week, the Civil Guard arrested around twenty suspects: among them, Koldo García’s brother and wife, Joseba García and Patricia Uriz respectively, for allegedly acting as front men to hide the bites of their relative.
The conversations reveal, according to the magistrate, that Koldo García forwarded the allegations of Management Solutions to “third parties” to destroy the administrative file opened against him by the Balearic Administration: “Numerous telephone conversations have been observed through the “that a change of approach can be seen in Management Solutions, in the event that the Balearic Administration produces an administrative silence regarding its appeal raised within the claim made,” states the magistrate. The judge also mentions a call where Cueto informs the representative of the company under suspicion, Íñigo Rotaeche, that, “in principle, the Balearic Administration had no intention of continuing with the claim: ‘This was a favor that your neighbor was asking [en referencia a Koldo García]… Him and his former boss… and it seems that the other one has said yes… because they have given him another favor in return.’ “The future of the telephone intervention in progress would refer to José Luis Ábalos.”
“Friend” of the president of the Post Office
The name of José Luis Ábalos is not the only one that appears splashed on Judge Ismael Moreno’s car. The magistrate also points out that Koldo García supposedly pulled his strings so that his brother Joseba, once he stopped being employed at Emfesa (an entity dependent on Adif), went to work for Correos (also dependent on the Ministry of Transport). “In line with the above, Joseba would be aware of the appointment of the new president of the Post Office, Pedro Saura, before it became official, since he has stated that this person is a friend of his.” Through a statement, Saura has denied his involvement in any irregularity: “Correos has not hired Joseba, nor am I aware that it ever had the purpose of hiring him.”
The judge of the National Court insists that Koldo García also contacted the wife of Inspector Rubén Eladio, director of the Ministry’s Emergencies, Security and Crisis Unit. “At least three communications have been observed [entre ambos]”says the magistrate. Eladio had previously been a member of the Internal Affairs Unit (UAI) of the Police, and participated in the investigation that led to the arrest, in October 2014, of Francisco Nicolás Gómez Iglesias, alias El Pequeno Nicolás “Koldo tells Eladio not to worry because they are going to consolidate him and he would have discussed this matter with Ábalos and the undersecretary of the ministry, Jesús Manuel García Gómez,” the summary states.
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