The Supreme Court sends Ábalos and Koldo to trial for criminal organization

Barcelona / MadridThe Supreme Court is demanding a €60,000 bail from former minister José Luis Ábalos and his former advisor Koldo García. both in pretrial detention for the past two weeks, and sends them to trial along with businessman Víctor de Aldama for organized crime. This was ordered in a ruling this Thursday by Judge Leopoldo Puente, who is investigating the case of alleged irregular commissions in the purchase of face masks during the pandemic. The judge, according to the ruling, has agreed to open oral proceedings against the three defendants for the crimes of membership in a criminal organization, continuous bribery, use and exploitation of privileged information, influence peddling, embezzlement, falsification of documents, and abuse of power. This comes after the appeals court rejected Ábalos and Koldo's appeals this Wednesday and upheld their indictment. In parallel with the opening of the oral proceedings, the investigating judge ordered that Ábalos and Koldo remain in prison and demanded that they pay 60,000 euros to "guarantee any financial liabilities that may ultimately be imposed on them." If this amount is not provided within five business days, the Judge orders the seizure of assets equivalent to the bail. In Aldama, the alleged facilitator of the scheme, Puente maintains the obligation to appear in court every fifteen days, the confiscation of his passport, and the prohibition against leaving Spain.

The trial, scheduled for the end of February

Judicial sources explain to ARA that the trial is expected to begin at the end of February. According to the same sources, the court will be presided over by the conservative magistrate Andrés Martínez Arrieta, who heads the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court and will also be the judge responsible for drafting the verdict, which will have to address the numerous "consistent indications" that in the opinion of the investigating judgeThey point out that Aldama allegedly made "successive" deliveries of money to Ábalos and Koldo "with the purpose of carrying out acts contrary to the duties inherent to their respective public offices."

The prosecution He is asking for 24 years in prison and a fine of almost 4 million euros. For the former Minister of Transport and former Secretary of Organization of the PSOE, 19 and a half years for his advisor and seven for Aldama, while the public accusations –led by the PP– Prosecutors are seeking 30 years in prison for Ábalos and Koldo, and six years and seven months for the businessman. The trial will be the first of the known as the Koldo caseThe case surrounding the scandal includes the Supreme Court's investigation into alleged irregularities in public works contracts, which also involves the former second-in-command of the Socialist Party, Santos Cerdán, and three other cases in the National Court, one of which investigates cash payments from the PSOE.

Ábalos's status as a deputy

Thursday's ruling comes a day after Congress decided, following the confirmation of Ábalos's indictment. suspend the former minister as a deputy"The suspension entails the loss of his prerogatives and functional and economic rights as an elected member of parliament," the Lower House clarified. This means that the former PSOE leader will not be able to vote and will not receive his parliamentary salary or the subsidy corresponding to the mixed group, which he joined when he refused to resign his seat, as his former party demanded. With the opening of the trial, it would be pointless for him to try to resign now in order to lose his protected status and avoid being tried by the Supreme Court.

A villa in Cádiz in exchange for a hydrocarbon license

Eight hours after this development was revealed in the Supreme Court, the news reached the National Court. A report from the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard, submitted to Judge Santiago Pedraz and accessed by ARA, details how the hydrocarbons network—allegedly led by Víctor de Aldama and Claudio Rivas—managed to influence José Luis Ábalos to obtain authorization for Villafu. The document indicates that the alleged criminal organization spent approximately one million euros to "buy the will of the public official" to infiltrate the administration, specifically mentioning the Ministry of Industry under Reyes Maroto and the Ministry for Ecological Transition under Teresa Ribera. In exchange, Rivas paid Ábalos a villa in Cádiz worth 585,000 euros. The Civil Guard believes there is a correlation between the purchase of the house and the suspects' firm conviction that they would obtain the authorization they sought. And he backs it up with a 2021 message from one of those involved: "Son of a bitch, the whoremonger; it was fishing "The house and pressed the little button."

The report also includes a conversation from the day Pedro Sánchez dismissed José Luis Ábalos as minister, in July 2021. Leonor González Pano—a businesswoman under investigation—told Natán González—her partner—about her partner—armed in the cabinet meeting. "The womanizer confronted the handsome one. And he got up in the middle of the meeting and, in front of everyone, told her to go fuck herself," she explained. And she sent him a message of reassurance: "[Aldama] called us because we're not worried about what we have underway, that everything is going ahead."