Judge Peinado opens a new line of investigation in the Begoña Gómez case... but now excludes Sánchez's wife

MadridWhile everyone was waiting for Juan Carlos Peinado to decide whether to send Begoña Gómez to trial and whether to revoke her passportdecided whether to send Begoña Gómez to trial and whether to withdraw her passportThe main piece –

the investigation was closed in April after two years of instruction – concerns the crimes of embezzlement, influence peddling, business corruption, and misappropriation. With the creation of a new line, Judge Peinado can maintain his roadmap to bring Begoña Gómez to the dock for the rest of the crimes while the other investigation starts. Sources from Moncloa have rushed to criticize the decision:

What was the European Public Prosecutor's Office investigating until now? Two contracts that the public company Red.es awarded to the consortium that formed Innova Next —Carlos Barrabés's company— and Escuela de Negocios The Valley. Just a year ago, the judge forwarded this part of the investigation to the European Public Prosecutor's Office. During all this time, among other things, the General Intervention of the State Administration has issued a report and Begoña Gómez has testified as a witness. This investigation revolves around the crimes of embezzlement, prevarication, and influence peddling.

What is new now under scrutiny? There is now a third contract that has appeared following a report by the Guardia Civil, which the European Public Prosecutor's Office wanted to investigate, but which will ultimately remain with Peinado.In a decree dated June 8, to which ARA has had access, the European Public Prosecutor's Office referred to a document from the Central Operational Unit (UCO) concerning the emails of thirteen people related to the two contracts that were under scrutiny. The document – which has not yet been disclosed – "mentions" a file relating to the Accelera Pime office service - Support and Advisory Service, which had a value of four million euros, which "was not the subject of investigation" in the case and which followed a "parallel" procedure to the two files that were being investigated. The contractor was the consortium – a temporary union of companies – between Innova Next – Barrabés's company – and KPMG. The European Public Prosecutor's Office argued that it would have been paid with Feder funds – European Regional Development Fund – but the State Advocacy has proven that it was not financed with European funds.

What is the suspicion? From the UCO report, it appears that the "non-existence" of a white paper, which was required in the tender documents as a necessary condition to obtain the award, was "overlooked". This white paper "determines the value judgments" for which the consortium "was awarded the highest score", which led to it being designated the contractor. The UCO highlighted that the evaluators responsible for the valuation report exchanged drafts that included comments precisely alluding to the absence of the white paper. The European Public Prosecutor's Office argues that this fact would have been "deliberately concealed" in the valuation reports so that it would "not be detected" by other bidders. Barrabés's defense believes it is an "irrelevant suspicion" that only aims to "arbitrarily restart" the investigation.

Why will it be on Peinado's desk? Initially, the European Public Prosecutor's Office defended its jurisdiction to investigate this third contract, but the investigating judge of the National High Court, Antonio Piña, sided with Barrabés' defense and sent it to Peinado. He argues that neither the order to transform into a jury nor the indictment contain "any mention" of the new disputed file and, therefore, there is a free path to launch a "complementary" investigation.

What is the relationship with Begoña Gómez? In 2020, Juan Carlos Barrabés advised Begoña Gómez to create the chair she would co-direct at the Complutense University. In June, they even met at Moncloa. Shortly after, Pedro Sánchez's wife signed two letters of support for the bids in which the businessman ended up being awarded. Despite this, as these were facts being investigated by the European Public Prosecutor's Office, Juan Carlos Peinado declared himself "manifestly incompetent" to transfer them to the case. However, the judge attributes to Barrabés "having accepted" a "singular dialogue" at Moncloa and having benefited from the "express support" of Begoña Gómez.