Ábalos paid 95,000 euros in personal expenses through Koldo

MadridThe Civil Guard's Central Operational Unit (UCO) is tightening its grip on José Luis Ábalos and extending the shadow of suspicion to the PSOE. In a nearly 300-page report submitted to the Supreme Court as part of the investigation into the alleged corruption scheme, the UCO details how the former Minister of Transport and former number three of the Socialists paid at least €95,437 in personal expenses through Koldo García, his former advisor, also under investigation for allegedly obtaining these funds. These payments with income of uncertain origin reinforce investigators' theory of "the existence of undeclared cash income," which also coincides with the time when the alleged irregularities allegedly occurred. The UCO's hypothesis is that there was "a reserve of cash at [Ábalos's] disposal" managed for him by Koldo and his ex-wife, Patricia Uriz.

One element that raises suspicions among the Civil Guard is that "Ábalos did not compensate via bank transfer" the expenses he asked Koldo to make on his behalf and that were directed to several women (€6,887.94 to Jéssica and €2,953 to Andrea), to one of his own, or for "personal expenses" (€20,799.40) and travel expenses for the former minister and his family (€7,629.54). The UCO bases its case on conversations between Koldo and Uriz in which they discuss the existence of "accounting A and B" related to Ábalos' expenses. "List two" would correspond to these personal expenses that were not subsequently settled through legal channels nor returned by Ábalos to the payers. The messages between the couple show that they acted as "custodian and manager" of black money that was "property of Ábalos," says the UCO.

Also raising suspicions is the "remarkable" fact that starting in 2018, while the alleged plot was active, "cash withdrawals ceased" from Ábalos' bank account. On the contrary, cash deposits into accounts related to the former minister increased exponentially. Ábalos has challenged this theory in a message to X in which he said that it is "premature" to speak of an "unknown origin" of that money. "There is no increase in assets nor are there exaggerated funds, because if in ten years they want to emphasize 95,000 euros, it does not even amount to a tax problem," he said, denouncing that what is being investigated is his "lifestyle."

PSOE expenses

The UCO also reveals that the PSOE paid the former minister's expenses in cash. The party has acknowledged this—it handed over, at the request of the high court, documentation to investigators detailing the deliveries—and, according to the Socialist version, "all cash payments have their expense vouchers and are justified." However, the UCO disagrees and, in its report, asserts that the amounts it suspects Ábalos actually received in envelopes containing cash do not match the amounts declared by the PSOE. "To claim that the PSOE has irregularly paid Ábalos or anyone else is slander," the Socialists countered in a statement.

Why is the UCO questioning this? Investigators compared the amounts the PSOE reported it had given in cash to Ábalos with conversations about payments held between Koldo and Uriz. Some "certain payments" they speak of coincide with the information the party has declared, but "within the evidence examined, other cash payments have emerged that were allegedly made by the PSOE without any supporting documentation or information," the UCO asserts. The report maintains that this "lack of consistency" is "significant insofar as it points to a source of undeclared income" and that "it is not an isolated incident."

The Ferraz envelopes

"I already have the envelope from Ferraz." It is a message from Uriz to Koldo sent on September 18, 2018. According to the conversations included in the report, the ex-wife of Ábalos's former advisor had repeatedly been responsible for collecting the money intended for both the former minister and her husband. The PSOE documentation includes cash expense reports for Ábalos amounting to €19,638.97 paid between 2017 and 2021. During the same period, Koldo received €12,744.73 in both cash and by bank transfer for the same purpose. One of the payments that the Civil Guard does not agree with these declared amounts is from the end of June 2019.

Uriz sent Koldo an image of an envelope with the PSOE logo, Ábalos's name written by hand, and the figure of €826.73. According to the information provided by the party, the former minister was only paid an amount of 321.29 euros that month. This represents a difference of 505.44 euros. The UCO considers the amount "outrageous" due to another conversation between the couple in February of the same year. Koldo told his wife, supposedly using coded vocabulary, that he received "one or two 500 euro bills" a month. These bills were "denominated in the agreed language as chistorra", maintains the UCO. The report says that the former advisor asked Uriz to transfer someone named Luis who was "ashamed to give anyone these chistorras"for the position he held.

The UCO gives another example. "Did they give you 8,000 or so last time?" This is what Uriz asks Koldo that June, presumably about the payments received between February and March 2019. At that time, the expense settlement8 was 8% and in Ábalos it was 1,183.29 euros. "Both amounts are significantly lower than the figure of 8,000 euros that Patricia referred to," says the report. Feijóo, in X.

For the PP, it is proven that Sánchez "institutionalized corruption from his first day in Moncloa" and "there is no smokescreen that can hide it." The PSOE, on the other hand, states in the same statement that the UCO report "demonstrates the absolute transparency with which [the party] has acted in this procedure." The Socialists affirm that it is clear that "there is no illegal financing" of the PSOE and allege that in another part of the report, the UCO acknowledges that the payrolls Ábalos received from the PSOE and the donations he made to the party do match the documentation.

Cerdán's situation

Meanwhile, this Friday, a ruling by the investigating judge in the case, Leopoldo Puente, was released, rejecting Cerdán's appeal against his pretrial detention. However, the defense of the former PSOE number three sees positive aspects. Above all, the judge acknowledges that it is not proven that the company Cerdán is linked to, Servinabar 2000, acted with a joint venture with Acciona on the contracts under suspicion. In the report on Ábalos's financial situation, the UCO mentions Cerdán in passing and points out a possible contradiction between the fact that he distanced himself from justifying the party's expenses during the investigation phase and the role allegedly attributed to him by a message from Uriz in the payment of an envelope containing cash from the PSOE.