Yesterday evening, a few minutes before eleven o’clock, the agents of the UCO of the Civil Guard left the headquarters of the General Prosecutor’s Office after thirteen hours to copy entire content from all devices electronic devices of the head of the Public Ministry, Álvaro García Ortiz, including his computer and telephones.
They acted under the orders of Judge Ángel Hurtado, appointed by the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court to investigate the file opened to the Attorney General for an alleged crime of disclosure of confidential data, linked to the investigation into alleged tax fraud carried out against Alberto González Amador. , a couple of the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso.
In a unanimous decision taken on the 16th, the Criminal Chamber saw indications of revelation of confidential data in the press release of the emails that González Amador’s defense exchanged with the prosecutor who wrote the complaint against him, Julián Salto. The initiative for this exchange of messages came from the businessman’s defender, who offered to reach an agreement on the sentence assuming that he had committed two tax crimes.
The Chamber clarified the purpose of the investigation in “how the media gained access to the emails” that the lawyer of Ayuso’s boyfriend and prosecutor Salto crossed paths with. These emails were published a few hours before the Madrid public prosecutor’s office published, on March 14 at 10:22 a.m., an informative note.
This statement – authorized by García Ortiz – fake news debunked appeared in some media on the night of March 13 in the sense that it was the prosecutor who offered González Amador a deal to tackle tax crimes, although he later withdrew it to bring him to justice .
The Criminal Chamber excluded the criminal relevance of this information note, given that the data on González Amador disclosed therein had already been disseminated by the media.
There is evidence that García Ortiz and the Attorney General of Madrid, Pilar Rodríguez, also accused, They accessed the emails on the night of March 13 the defender of Alberto González Amador and the prosecutor Julián Salto. They had asked the latter to be able to prepare the information note distributed the next day.
It is suspected that one of them leaked them to the press, which both deny.
Beyond what was requested by the victim
In this context, the first procedure agreed by the instructor of the Supreme Court was a extensive interference with rights to the confidentiality and secrecy of the communications of the Attorney General and the Attorney General of Madrid (whose devices were also intercepted yesterday) for the investigation of a less serious crime.
Hurtado agreed to access the entire contents of all electronic, computer and telematic devices used by the head of the prosecution, who is unprecedented.
The measure is much broader and more forceful than the request submitted to the Supreme Court by the victim’s defense itself. of the revelation. Alberto González Amador’s lawyer offered to access the emails of García Ortiz and Rodríguez which contained text related to the phrase “after studying the matter, and by mutual agreement with Alberto González, I inform you that this “It is the firm desire of this party to reach an agreement.” criminal conformity, fully recognizing the facts (certainly two crimes were committed against the Public Treasury).”
This sentence corresponds to the content of the first email sent by González Amador’s lawyer to the Madrid Economic Crimes Prosecutor’s Office on February 2, 2024, proposing an agreement in accordance with the tax crimes detected by the tax administration and which Salto would denounce in court . the following March 5.
In addition, the Supreme Court instructor ordered access to the contents of the Attorney General’s devices for a period of seven months, since March 8 until yesterday’s date.
This period covers dates well after the publication of the emails in the press – which is the subject of the investigation – and extends until the moment when the Criminal Chamber decided to open the casethe information seized could therefore include data related to the reaction of the Attorney General to this event and the defense strategy that could have started to be considered.
The start date of the intervention of the devices, March 8, is three days after the presentation of the prosecutor’s complaint against González Amador and 24 hours after a relevant event: on March 7, the Attorney General of Madrid, Pilar Rodríguez, went directly to Julián’s house. Salto to send him by email a copy of this complaint, the administrative file and the investigation procedure “related to the partner of the President of the Community of Madrid”.
On the same March 7, Rodríguez sent Salto’s email containing all this information to the General Prosecutor’s Office and the Superior Prosecutor’s Office in Madrid. But, for unknown reasons, these exchanges took place outside the period set by Hurtado.
Rooting and volatile memory
The criminal court instructor took measures to extract as much information as possible of the Attorney General’s apparatus.
Thus, he authorized the “rooting” of cell phones. “Rooting” a device involves gaining full system administrator privileges, allowing unrestricted access to folder locations, files, and commands.
Hurtado’s resolution also stated that in the event that García Ortiz’s computer equipment was turned on when the agents arrived, police technical analysis of the system was allowed to be carried out in order to preserve volatile information.
Volatile memory refers to computer memory that requires continuous power to maintain stored information. This is lost as soon as the device is turned off or the power is cut off.
Likewise, the instructor authorized that, in the event that downloading files required a lot of time, UCO agents changed the access codes “to digital accounts for storing information, messaging or social networks, as well as for opening SMS or messages”. in an alternative email account that generates said modification.”
Registration and access to the devices was completed last night. For 13 hours, the agents occupied the Attorney General’s office and copied the information requested by the Supreme Court judge in the presence of the Attorney General and the state attorney who defended him.
The prosecutor’s office and the Supreme Court prosecutor’s office are already preparing appeals against Hurtado’s decision.
