Businessman Carlos Barrabés wondered if Judge Juan Carlos Peinado had shown up at the hospital grab your phone leaving him without any possibility of communication with the outside world at the time when The Civil Guard searched his home and business.
Barrabés appealed to the Provincial Court of Madrid against Judge Peinado’s order authorizing the searches of one of his homes and one of his businesses that took place on August 23.
Barrabés’ defense does not question the possibility of carrying out a search in mid-August, but “the emergency which could exist for this purpose”, which was carried out when his client was “admitted to hospital to undergo serious treatment and, consequently, without physical possibility of being present, a circumstance perfectly known to the Court, as communicated in good time by this representation”.
Also They wonder whether forces operating at the hospital itself appeared to seize his phone. leaving him without any possibility of communication with the outside world, at a time when Barrabés was in an isolation room in the hospital due to his health condition.
They insist that there has not been a single request for information, neither from their client nor from any of the entities linked to them, that could demonstrate the slightest obstruction of the investigation; that there has always been an offer to provide all the information requested, without any request having been made and finally that the “excesses” denounced in this appeal have taken place.
But with all this and with that, the most important thing, according to the defense, is that the entry procedure “suffers from the absolute lack of indicative elements that would justify a measure such as the one agreed.”
Barrabés speaks of a “very serious violation of rights and abuses”
In the appeal, the defense claims that the investigation was based on “unfair and unfounded presumption“that all public awards in favor of Barrabés’ company, Innova Next, “were obtained through the illicit mediation (influence) of Ms. Gómez Fernández and her personal environment.
This, they insist, is maintained “without any kind of indication or suspicion that justifies their investigation” in addition to the presentation of documents on the popular accusations, which they consider “void of any legal rigor and based on false information published by certain media outlets.”
In Barrabés’ defense, “the infamous politicization of this procedure that the popular accusations seek, with which we have absolutely no connection, has led to the attempt to criminalize all actions, without any support or justification, but which the Court has nevertheless assumed as its own.”
The businessman also denounces the “inappropriateness” of proceeding “to the cloning of enormous information, without any filter, whether or not it is linked to the cause” and speaks of a “very serious violation of rights and abuse.”
Judge orders collection of documents relating to Innova Next
The August 23 raid was ordered by Judge Peinado as part of the case he is investigating against the wife of the president of the government, for which he is investigating influence peddling and corruption in companiesThe magistrate opened a separate room in the case so that the registry procedure would remain secret.
Specifically, the judge ordered the collection of documents relating to contracts awarded to Innova Next, contracts which have already been analyzed by the UCO in two reports in which it was concluded that there were no signs of crime. In this case, however, the concessions of the company Red.es, which depends on the Ministry of Industry, as well as the Higher Council of Sports and the Madrid City Council, are under investigation.
Barrabés was a professor in the master’s degree co-directed by Pedro Sánchez’s wife and won a series of public contracts, some of which were sent to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. Although UCO found no irregularities In the contracts awarded to the businessman, he has already testified twice before Judge Peinado, who first questioned him as a witness and later accused him of the same crimes for which Gómez is being investigated.
During these court appearances, Barrabés admitted to having met Begoña Gómez several times in Moncloa and, once, alone with Sánchez himself, without the presence of his wife. A meeting dedicated to discussing innovation issues, he said, assuring that he also held this type of meeting with other political parties and heads of institutions.
The President, for his part, He claimed to have no relationship with Barrabés or with the other person involved in the case, the rector of the Complutense University Joaquín Goyache, when the judge went to question him at the Moncloa Palace, where Sánchez took advantage of his right not to testify so as not to harm his wife. Precisely this week, the judge ordered that the recording of the summons to Moncloa be transferred to the parties, in an order in which he affirms that “conclusions” can be drawn from the “silence” of the leader of the Executive.
