The former president of the State Ports, Francisco Toledo Lobo, appeared this Friday as a witness before the judge in charge of the investigation of the Koldo case and was presented as an intermediary figure between the management of the Ministry of Transport that was then headed by José Luis Ábalos – whom he did not mention – and who was his direct subordinate and responsible for the execution of the contracts for the purchase of masks, the accused former secretary general of the organization, Álvaro Sánchez Manzanares.
As reported by sources present in the statement, he assured that the selection as supplier of the instrumental company Soluciones de Gestión was made and was awarded directly because what was transmitted to him is that Soluciones de Gestión had the approval “of the ministry.” He looks up, as Sánchez Manzanares did in his statement without naming names, but also down, since it was he who carried out the execution and who would have given him the name of the company.
In this sense, he was questioned about the email provided by this newspaper in which he expressed his indignation at the failure to meet delivery deadlines and proposed to terminate their contract. Legal sources affirm that Sánchez Manzanares responded in another email saying “José Luis has given the green light” and, when questioned about it, Toledo denied knowing who he was referring to.
On the other hand, the former president of Ports played a role in the decision regarding the company that would assume the reception of the masks and their transport to deliver them to the different organizations, Raminatrans, a decision that was made without weighing other possible alternatives, because ” denounced the internal audit to the Ministry of Transport. He explained that he knew her from his stay in Puertos de Castellón, that he had expressly called the owner about it and that he had recommended her.
However, the witness distanced himself from his hiring because, as he stated, he was not in his position as president of the Ports. Today, Raminatrans sponsors the chair she directs at a university, something she limited herself to confirming in the room, explaining that it is a company interested in innovation. It has not been the subject of a thorough investigation because it is not the subject of the case.
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Yes, questions have been raised about the method of payment of this contract, since half was advanced but the amount was blocked so that the company could not have it until it was delivered, which draws the attention of popular accusations such as HazteOir or Vox. because it is rare, they say, to operate like this in emergency contracts. Toledo has also distanced itself from this matter because Sánchez Manzanares was in charge of the details.
During this session, two of the leaders of the team that managed the purchase of the masks in the ports also appeared as witnesses, the same ones who were in a thread about the contract referring to comments such as that they were going to “end up in Manzanares” or that the next thing would be to manage “the Cali cartel.” Both men attributed this type of comments to the tension of the moment and stressed that they understand each other in a context of relaxed communication, although in four years they might seem different.
They downplayed these comments while dismissing any suspicion about the successful bidder, beyond the fact that it was, in the words of one of them, a “very small SL”. They also appreciated the efforts made in those days to ensure that the masks arrived, promoting the idea that they were doing it “for Spain”.
