The judge summons Ábalos and Koldo to testify regarding the "irregular income" revealed by the UCO.

MadridFormer Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos and his former advisor Koldo García are scheduled to testify before the Supreme Court on October 15 and 16. The judge investigating them, Leopoldo Puente, issued an order following the report from the Civil Guard's Central Operational Unit (UCO), released on Friday, which concluded that the former Socialist leader had received 95,000 euros that were not justified. "The report delves into the evidence of criminal activity on the part of Ábalos and García, who may have engaged in opaque communication methods regarding their respective assets, indiscriminately receiving irregular and opaque income from various sources, possibly the result of the commission of serious criminal offenses."

The police report revealed that García covered Ábalos' personal expenses, including child support for one of his children, a domestic worker's salary, and travel expenses, among others. The Civil Guard investigation has not found any bank transfers that would have returned that money to his former advisor. "Given the relationship between Ábalos' regular income and the expenses he was required to incur, it appears evidently justified that the suspect could have benefited from some irregular source of income, which would correspond to the illicit receipt of cash allegedly attributed to him in this case and with García. García then, in some way, assumed a portion of Ábalos's expenses," the judge notes.

"The fact that Ábalos, from 2018 until 2023, did not make any cash withdrawals from his bank accounts points in this direction, unlike what he had ordinarily done until then and what he did again starting in 2024," Puente adds. The judge observes that these "areas of intersection" between the assets of Ábalos and Koldo do not match the statements the former minister had made in court when he stated that the relationship between the two "did not go beyond that of an ordinary relationship between a minister and one of his various advisors." Now he wants to question them both again, and after that, "what's appropriate will be agreed upon." That is, the adoption of new precautionary measures could be considered. The lawyers for the separate investigation into the former PSOE organizational secretary, Santos Cerdán, will also be able to attend this hearing.

Ammunition for the PP

The president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, took advantage of a public event to point out the "major corruption schemes surrounding the president of the Spanish government, his entourage, and the party." "This is the direct responsibility of the number 3 and number 2 circulating with banknotes, envelopes... It's something that doesn't escape the direction and knowledge of number 1," Ayuso stated, emphasizing that there are new revelations "every day," "which always lead to the same epicenter and person responsible," and that Sánchez is "scheming a lot to resign."