The fence is closing in. Judge Ismael Moreno has asked the Ministry of Transportation to give him a copy of the the audit ordered by Oscar Bridge on contracts with the central company of the Koldo case during the period of his predecessor José Luis Ábalos.
And this document will become an essential element of the foreseeable evolution — whether it happens sooner or later; in a few weeks or at the end of the course— accusation of the former minister Abalos.
In any case, for this to happen, Moreno must send a document, called a motivated declaration, to the Supreme Courtthe only body empowered to investigate a member of Congress because of his or her status as a member of Congress.
Ábalos is, because although the PSOE began the expulsion process months ago, he is still a member of the Lower House within the party. Mixed Groupto which he moved.
As the former minister confirmed to EL ESPAÑOL, he will present “both through the contentious-administrative route and before the National Court” a legal report to demonstrate the illegality of the audit.
The former minister assures that he had “several proposals” from law firms specializing in compliance and auditing firms that “are keen to dismantle it.”
The old one number two The PSOE’s representative describes the report as an “administrative intrusion”. He also claims that the officials interviewed were not informed of the purpose of the audit in which their statements appear.
Likewise, in this way, those who considered it appropriate were prevented from doing so with their legal representation or simply not testifying. The former minister considers that this audit has become an “illegal parallel investigation” and “a kind of court of honor.”
Ábalos also points out that it does not meet the criteria of compliance that an audit of this type must be: impartial, objective, specialized, independent, periodic and planned.
Furthermore, in these reports, it is mandatory that the auditor or auditing body “has no direct link with the service to be audited”. The former minister indicates that the person who occupies the General Directorate of Organization and Inspection of the ministry, who was in charge of the audit, is “judge and jury”.
He thus emphasizes Belen Villarwho was at the time chief of staff to the Under Secretary of State Jesus Manuel Gomez Garciawho was fired last Friday by Puente and is one of those being investigated in the so-called Koldo case.
Villar was one of the most responsible people in 2020 for ensuring that all administrative procedures were correct. Ábalos also defends that the Royal Decree that regulates the functions of the Inspection of Services does not provide for an audit of this type, which he considers excessive.
The PSOE and Puente
The PSOE informed Ábalos that his successor, Puente, had decided alone to carry out and present the audit, something the former minister does not believe. As he stated in EL ESPAÑOL, he sees it as a “clear political intention”. “It cannot be a blunder,” he said.
The former PSOE organisation secretary believes that an attempt has been made to incriminate him with this audit and point it directly at him, which puts him on the path to being charged.
The judge’s decision to request a copy of the report from Transports allows the document to be validated and authenticated. Because, until now, the instructor only had on his table a copy provided by two of the parties appearing in the trial. Koldo case (the PP and Vox), who had requested various steps. Now, Moreno will soon be received by the official body that mandated him: the ministry of Óscar Puente.
The incorporation of the report into the summary will also be relevant in the face of a possible interrogation of Puente. One of the popular accusations of the case, the association Liberumrequested the testimony of the current minister to explain various aspects of the audit. Above all, the reasons that led to the dismissal of the current Undersecretary of Transportation, Jesús Manuel Gómez García.
Judge Moreno also asked the ministry to know the identity of the officials who prepared the audit, which will allow him, in the future, to also summon them to testify so that they can ratify it.
But the relevance of the report to this case lies mainly in the fact that it reveals that it was Ábalos who ordered to double, from four to eight million masks, the order placed with the company Soluciones de Gestión SL.
The company, considered the epicenter of Koldo casereceived contracts worth two million dollars from two public entities assigned to transport: Puertos del Estado and Adif. For both, he pocketed more than 30 million euros.
The report states that, with Ábalos at the helm, the ministry would have adapted the contract exactly to the offer proposed by Soluciones de Gestión SL, instead of adjusting it according to the health needs derived from the Covid-19 outbreak.
On the other hand, the internal audit also ensures that the Ministry of Transport, today, cannot document the delivery of more than 6.8 million masks acquired under one of these contracts, with which eight million masks were purchased for 20 million euros.
The government can therefore only prove that 1.2 million masks out of a total of eight arrived at their destination. This is in addition to the evidence against Ábalos collected by investigators from the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard and reflected in several reports citing the former minister.
Ábalos defends his innocence and believes he is being persecuted. This Thursday, the prosecutor filed a complaint for “revelation of secrets” in Koldo case due to leaks of the former minister’s personal data and emails.
The former minister pointed the finger at the Interior and requested an investigation. The Madrid Provincial Prosecutor’s Office sees signs of criminality thanks to the data published on the former number two of the PSOE.
For his part, as published by EL ESPAÑOL, Ábalos He does not remember why he duplicated, with only 38 minutes difference, one of the orders given to the alleged corruption plot. What is clear is that he believes it exists a clear “political intention” in the internal audit ordered by his successor as head of Transport.
