Investigated on the “Koldo affair” and the “oil plot”, with accounts blocked for months, with no certain prospect of being released from prison soon and with afraid that “something will happen to him” In prison, businessman Víctor de Aldama is ready to collaborate in the judicial investigation into the cases he carried out and to reveal the involvement of the former Minister of Transport in them Jose Luis Abalos and who was his advisor, Koldo García.
This is what Aldama’s defense made known to the lawyers of the “Koldo affair” with whom they spoke after learning on Tuesday that the judge of the National Court Ismael Moreno had responded to his request to make a declaration “immediately” and voluntarily, summoning him for tomorrow Thursday.
The application was submitted last Monday, only 72 hours after the Criminal Chamber of the National Court confirmed the preventive detention of Aldama. Judge Santiago Pedraz incarcerated him on October 8 due to indications that he and his partner Claudio Rivasled a network which allegedly defrauded more than 182 million euros in VAT through a network of hydrocarbon companies.
Pedraz linked Aldama’s prison situation – which I didn’t expect to be imprisoned– to find out where 74 million euros are located outside Spain.
But investigators have yet to take any significant steps in this direction (in fact, embargoes have been lifted on accounts believed to be linked to the plot, but were not) and, therefore, the horizon of A rapid release automatically agreed by the instructor moves away from the “fuel plot”.
Aldama’s defense informed the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office a few days ago of the businessman’s desire to “collaborate” in the investigation into the “Koldo case”, but He did not specify what he wanted to talk about and to what extent.
He also did not want to reveal it to the other defenders who appeared in this procedure, beyond the fact that this statement would affect Ábalos, whom the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court agreed to investigate on the 7th.
The former Minister of Transport and former organizational secretary of the PSOE welcomed with concern the initiative taken by Aldama, unhappy with the distance that Ábalos intends to mark towards him in the public statements he has made on the “case Koldo.” .
Prosecutors’ sources are cautious. The fight against corruption has known for many months that Víctor de Aldama is a key figure because all the plots come together in him: the masks that Transports contracted for Covid-19 (for which the businessman charged a commission of 5.5 million euros, according to investigators), hydrocarbon fraud, “Delcygate”, the rescue of Air Europa, contacts with Begoña Gomezwife of the president of the government, Pedro Sánchez.
But the prosecution wants to check how far Aldama goes and what elements he can provide to corroborate his statements before deciding whether or not he will oppose the provisional release of the businessman, which he is pursuing.
Aldama is in prison for the “oil plot”, which Pedraz is investigating, but he is going to make a statement in front of Moreno, instructor of the “Koldo case”. However, the prosecutor is the same in both procedures. Furthermore, the Public Prosecutor’s Office is the only one that, at present, can intervene in the procedure concerning hydrocarbon fraud, because secrecy has been declared. The prosecution could therefore support Aldama’s release, and Pedraz would have to accept it, because precautionary measures cannot be adopted if there are no charges prompting them.
The framework of the declaration caused surprise among lawyers. None of them will be present in the courtroom of the Ismael Moreno Court, but they will listen to the statement by videoconference in another room located on another floor.
Only the prosecutor, Aldama and his lawyer will be before the judge. “You don’t want to feel intimidated by a multitude of lawyers in person”, explain defense sources, who informed their colleagues that they did not have to prepare an interrogation since the businessman would only answer to the judge, to the prosecutor and his own lawyer.
