The Supreme Court agrees to open an investigation into former socialist minister José Luis Ábalos for his alleged involvement in the “Koldo affair”. The Superior Court admits the reasoned declaration in which the judge in charge of investigating the case at the National Court, Ismael Moreno, requested to open a case against him taking into account the “founded and serious indications” of his “role principal” in a criminal organization which is supposed to be held against him. benefited from the sale of masks during the pandemic.
In an order dated November 5, the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court considers it “essential” to investigate these events and appoints Judge Leopoldo Puente as instructor. In addition, it determines that the procedure against non-aforadis continues before the National Court “except when there is an inseparable material link” between the accused persons and the former minister and now deputy of the Mixed Group after his expulsion of the PSOE and its parliamentary group. last February.
Judge Moreno assigned Ábalos a “clear and concrete accusation” of crimes of belonging to a criminal organization, influence peddling and corruption after receiving a report from the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard which attributed to him a “relevant role”. and responsibility” in the alleged conspiracy nested within the Ministry of Transport that he led between January 2020 and July 2021.
After a year of investigation, this police report reveals for the first time the “compensation” he allegedly received for his efforts in the plot. At the moment there are no bribes in the form of cash payments. But there are other gifts that uncovered seven months of wiretapping, hundreds of intercepted emails and the deposit of 170 electronic devices – including cell phones and computers – confiscated from members of the network and people related to it. The enjoyment of a chalet in exchange for one’s intercession in contracts or the payment of rent for one’s partner’s accommodation are the most significant examples.
UCO investigations prove that businessman Víctor Aldama, the “corrupting element” in the case, paid up to 32 months of rent for the apartment where a woman named Jessica resided, who at the time had a romantic relationship with the former minister. A luxury apartment, located in the Torre de Madrid building on the Plaza de España in the capital, and for which 2,700 euros per month were paid.
This is not the only gift Ábalos received, according to the Civil Guard. The UCO also considers in its report that there is “multiple evidence” that it made “real use” of a luxury villa located in the La Alcaidesa urbanization, near Sotogrande, purchased by Aldama through through other alleged front men. “In the presence of evidence (…) this would link Ábalos’ participation in the investigated contracts with Aldama’s purchase of a villa for the former minister himself,” the report said.
