Judge Peinado opens a new line of investigation in the Begoña Gómez case, but leaves her out

MadridWhile everyone was waiting for Juan Carlos Peinado to decide whether to send Begoña Gómez to trial and whether to revoke her passportdecide whether to send Begoña Gómez to trial and whether to revoke her passport, the controversial judge has made an unexpected move and has decided to open a new line of investigation in the case concerning Pedro Sánchez's wife. It is a separate piece for the crimes of prevarication and fraud against the interests of the European Union for a contract that was awarded to a company owned by Juan Carlos Barrabés. In a resolution of just over 200 words, the magistrate limits himself to citing the decree of the European Prosecutor's Office and avoids giving any minimal explanation of who intervened. It is, therefore, a very embryonic first step. Four hours after it became known, Peinado had to issue a new resolution to "clarify" that the piece is opened "solely" with respect to the businessman and, therefore, excludes the Spanish president's wife.

The 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 put Begoña Gómez on trial for the remaining crimes while the other investigation begins. Sources from Moncloa have been quick 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 UTE that formed Innova Next —Barrabés's company— and Escuela de Negocios The Valley. Just a year ago, the judge referred 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 under the spotlight now? There is now a third contract that has emerged from a Civil Guard report. The European Public Prosecutor's Office wanted to investigate it, but Peinado has finally taken it. In a decree of June 8, to which ARA has had access, the European Public Prosecutor's Office referred to a document from the Central Operative Unit (UCO) on the emails of thirteen people related to the two contracts that were under the radar. The document – which has not yet been disclosed – "mentions" a file related to the Accelera Pime office service - Support and Advice Service, which had a value of four million euros, which "was not the subject of investigation" in the case and which followed a "parallel" processing to the two files that were being investigated. The contractor was the UTE – temporary union of companies – between Innova Next – Barrabés's company – and KPMG. The European Public Prosecutor's Office maintained that it would have been paid with Feder funds – European Regional Development Fund –, but the State Advocate's Office has proven that it was not financed with European funds.

What is the suspicion? From the UCO's report, it is inferred that the "non-existence" of a white paper, which was required in the tender documents as a necessary condition to obtain the award, and on which "value judgments depend" for which the UTE was scored with the "maximum grade", thus becoming the awarded contractor, "was overlooked". The UCO highlighted that the evaluators in charge of the valuation report exchanged drafts that included comments alluding, precisely, 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 "restart the investigation at will".

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 Court, Antonio Piña, sided with Barrabés's defense and sent it to Peinado. He argues that neither the order to transform into a jury trial nor the indictment contain "any mention" of the new controversial case file and, therefore, there is a clear 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.