The Supreme Court summons Ábalos and Koldo on November 27 to decide whether to imprison them.
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and the private prosecutions had requested a review of the precautionary measures against them.
BarcelonaSupreme Court Justice Leopoldo Puente has summoned former minister José Luis Ábalos and his former advisor Koldo García to a hearing on Thursday, November 27, to decide whether to keep them free or remand them in custody. The judge will review the precautionary measures he has in place for the former Socialist Party (PSOE) minister and his advisor in the case concerning the alleged scheme to purchase face masks during the pandemic, after the private prosecutors and the public prosecutor requested a hearing to have them detained. The hearing comes just weeks after the judge himself warned of a "growing" flight risk as the trial "approaches" and the evidence in the case "strengthens." This Wednesday The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office requested a 24-year prison sentence and a fine of almost 4 million euros for Ábalos.The prosecutor accuses him of five crimes: membership in a criminal organization, bribery, embezzlement, influence peddling, and insider trading. For Koldo, the request is for 19 years for the same crimes. Currently, both Ábalos and Koldo must appear in court every two weeks, their passports have been confiscated, and they are prohibited from leaving Spain.
Víctor de Aldama, the third person implicated in the alleged scheme, will not have to appear in court for this case. The man who allegedly acted as a fixer was released from pretrial detention in another case after promising to cooperate with the Prosecutor's Office in that proceeding. Both the Prosecutor's Office and the seven private prosecutions led by the PP (People's Party) are requesting a lighter sentence for him, of seven years in prison. Next Thursday, he is summoned to the National Court to answer questions about the UCO (Central Operative Unit of the Civil Guard) report on the contracts for the purchase of masks and PCR tests in the Canary Islands.
The division of functions
The document presented this Wednesday by prosecutor Alejandro Luzón outlines the "relationship of trust" that existed between José Luis Ábalos and Koldo García. "It was understood that he was the faithful conduit for the decisions and desires of José Luis Ábalos, usually shielded behind his advisor," it states. Thus, the advisor is presented as "l'alter ego"of the minister and it is specified that he performed for him a "good number of tasks of very diverse nature, both professional and personal, legal and illegal." functions. "They agreed on the future commission of crimes, initially undefined in their specific details, as opportunities to commit them arose," Luzón asserts. "He provided the authority" conferred upon him by being a minister and the "direct influence" of the continued large sums of money."