Francisco Toledoformer president of State Portssaid on Friday that the company hired by the Ministry of Transport in 2020 for the purchase of 8 million masks for 20 million euros she had the guarantee of the portfolio she owned Jose Luis Abalos. Toledo detailed before the magistrate in charge of the investigation on Koldo case than to Management solutionsAt the epicenter of the plot, he was pressured to bring the masks to Spain as quickly as possible.
The former president of Ports of the State stressed that they insisted that the contract with the company had the approval of the ministry when they placed the document in the signature holder, in front of him. Despite this, he denied having maintained direct contact with José Luis Ábalos, with the institution and with the company.
However, during interrogation he was shown a e-mail in which we can read “I spoke with José Luis”, although Francisco Toledo insists that he does not know who the José Luis mentioned in the message is, which is why he has neither confirmed nor denied that it is the former minister.
Furthermore, he denied any responsibility for awarding the service and claims that his only task was to sign the contractual document. The only exception, he added, is that he was the one who recommended hire Raminatrans SL for the distribution of the material, a company of which he had references since his time in a port delegation located in the Valencian Community. He thus ratified what he had already explained in February before the Central Operational Unit (UCO).
Similarly, he also acknowledged before the magistrate that put pressure on the trader Management Solutions to ensure that the masks arrive as quickly as possible in Spain, although he justifies that he did so because the company was late due to freight problems planes.
On the other hand, Miguel’s Aranzazu And Maria Belén Caballero Martínez – respectively the head of the Agency’s Contracts and Risk Management sector and the head of the procurement department attached to the General Secretariat of State Ports – have designated Francisco Toledo as the person responsible for procurement.
Moreover, one of them said in an email that she hoped “does not end up in the Manzanares River“, although he explained that it was actually a casual comment due to nervousness, given that he said it in the context of a conversation in which millions of euros of health supplies were being discussed.
