The businessman who connects Gürtel, the Montoro and Aldama cases

BarcelonaIn the plot of the Montoro case There is a key element that investigators are trying to unravel: how Equipo Económico, the law firm linked to the former Minister of Finance, diverted money allegedly paid by large companies so that the PP could pass laws tailored to its interests. To do so, according to the judge, the firm created a network of shell companies that issued invoices but, in practice, had no other commercial activity or partners other than those of Equipo Económico. Thus, the money did not leave the perimeter of Montoro's collaborators, who took over the business when, supposedly, the former PP leader disengaged (something the investigator also questions). And this is where the figure of Luis Miguel Triguero López, a businessman and expert in the creation of commercial companies, comes into focus. He is no stranger to those who have followed the fine print of scandals linked to economic and political corruption in Spain in recent years.

As stated in the case summary, at one time Triguero – who is not charged in the case – provided services to some people involved in the Gürtel plot (for example, Jacobo Gordon, partner of José María Aznar's son-in-law) but also to former banker Mario Conde, convicted of fraud for the Banesto caseOn the other hand, this businessman has also maintained relations with Víctor de Aldama, the commissioner of the mask-buying corruption scheme that gave rise to the Cerdán case, and is linked to the PSOE. Specifically, he gave him control of several companies he founded, which Aldama later used to conduct business (for example, with Duda Razonable SL and Hot Wheels Iberica—now The Mad Toilets—as ARA has verified by consulting the Commercial Registry).

The framework

But how did Triguero specifically intervene in the Montoro case? A paradigmatic case is that of Plataforma de Soluciones Jurídicas (Legal Solutions Platform): the businessman was sole administrator for three months, and immediately afterward, the position was transferred to an employee of Equipo Económico. Between 2009 and 2017, it can be seen that he received payments not only from this company and Equipo Económico, but also from other shell companies. It should be noted that the vast majority of these companies' business was with Equipo Económico, which was their "only client," according to a report from the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), which would prove it. Triguero allegedly also founded another company, Beat Green SL, which served to transfer shares in holding companies that did business with Equipo Económico.

Within this network of companies, Global Afteli stands out, also founded by Triguero in 2015. Manuel de Vicente-Tutor Rodríguez, a former tax inspector and senior official in the ministry between 1999 and 2004, and its administrator, soon took over. He did so through another company, Tutpim Inversiones, which the businessman had also founded. Global Afteli is not just another company: it was the one that ended up absorbing the firm when Equipo Económico began to be affected by information about the Montoro case. Global Afteli changed its registered office to that of Equipo Económico in 2015 and, at the end of 2016, registered this trademark with the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office. At that time, the firm reduced its profits, and the same happened with the associated companies. According to the investigation, this "has no economic explanation" because everyone was experiencing a boom.

Who was Luis the Bastard?

Luis Miguel Triguero was never investigated in the Gürtel case, but his name hovered over the case when investigators suggested that he was the one businessman Francisco Correa identified as "Luis el Cabrón" in his famous second-class accounting, where he noted that he owed him 72,000 euros. This is also how the summary of the Montoro case is remembered, which cites a news article byThe Confidential which states that Bárcenas himself suggested the possibility that Luis Miguel Triguero was that Luis el Cabrón. However, during the trial for the first stage of the plot, Correa asserted that Triguero was not that Luis. The person identified in the accounting documents was Luis Delso, former president of Isolux.

There is yet another mention in the corruption plot linked primarily to the PP's management of the Community of Madrid and Valencia. It appears in the emails exchanged between Santiago Menéndez, former director of the AEAT (Tax Agency), and Montoro's former chief of staff, Felipe Martínez Rico, containing information on journalists, politicians, and other figures. In this correspondence, Menéndez sent Martínez a note about the date and content of the appearances scheduled for the 2017 Gürtel investigation by Treasury officials. He also informed him that a meeting had taken place with the Prosecutor's Office to prepare these statements.