The others implicated in the Montoro case
Every day, in a steady trickle, we are learning more details of the gruesome Montoro case. For now, it appears to be the largest corruption case in the state, as it affects the very core of the administration and calls into question the functioning of one of its main drivers: tax collection, which finances all public services. To give an example, the case begins with an email in which a group of five gas companies decide to approach the consulting firm created by Montoro before becoming minister, Equipo Económico, to obtain tax reductions. In exchange for generous fees of just over €600,000 between them, they succeed, and the reduction in both taxes has saved them €51 million from 2014 to 2023, according to the summary. The five companies are paying around €5 million less each year in taxes. This is facilitated by the Treasury itself, which constantly campaigns against tax fraud.
Beyond the specific crime, beyond the money, the reputational damage this causes to the credibility of the Treasury and its officials is dramatic. Because to do this, Montoro has had to count on the complicity, or the silence, or at least the letting it happen out of fear or indifference, of a whole series of officials who have seen this happen year after year. Certainly, these are largely political measures, and those primarily responsible are, of course, those who held a political position or responsibility. But the public workers linked to this whole scandal have undoubtedly also been implicated, and it would be good if there were a reaction from the unions and also from the civil service itself and some kind of responsibility was assumed. mea culpa. In addition, of course, to promoting more measures to protect their professional work when they refuse to commit irregularities or illegalities, and at the same time severely penalizing and punishing those who participate.
It would perhaps be a measure to begin regenerating an administration that seems to condone corrupt practices at all levels as a variable that now affects us as well. And many businessmen know this and take advantage of it. The profits they make from these bribes, we all end up paying for them, and in this sense, beyond the clear criminal liability, the legislative initiatives proposed by some parties to block access to subsidies or public tenders for companies or groups under investigation in these cases make perfect sense. Certainly, all of this only serves to fuel the far-right's anti-democratic rhetoric.
