Koldo García, former advisor to José Luis Ábalos, asked a civil guard of the Information Service, paid by the plot, if the president of the government, Pedro Sánchez, or the head of Public Works at the time had their telephones ” wiretapped.” still according to the agent’s version after his arrest. This is indicated in the latest report that the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Army Institute sent to the judge of the National Court responsible for investigating the corruption plot surrounding the purchase of masks with public money during the Covid pandemic.
In the same report, the agents specify that Koldo García made requests to Rubén Villalba – the agent investigated – which “were of a very sensitive nature, such as trying to find out if the telephone number” of the chief executive or of the former Minister of Development “They intervened,” reports Europa Press.
The aforementioned report, which focuses on Villalba’s alleged participation in the case, reveals that the Civil Guard agent was responsible for ensuring that the alleged members of the conspiracy could “communicate in complete safety and without possible legal action or police.”
Security was, according to investigators, “one of the most important aspects” for the alleged author of the plot, businessman Víctor de Aldama, even if Koldo García “would also have received” secure motives for his interests .
The man who was Ábalos’ advisor, according to the Armed Institute, used these devices “especially during his period when he carried out professional tasks for the ministry.” The agent who provided the phones also claims that Ábalos used them as well. Villalba made these statements after being arrested during the second phase of the operation.
“During his tenure in Government and very rarely outside of this position, he always asked us for basic telephony, and not a smartphone, to make his calls. On one occasion I saw former Minister Ábalos with one of the devices provided by us,” Villalba said in one of the communications intercepted by the agents.
Villalba’s job was to manage these cell phones by “exchanging” them to members of the conspiracy and “destroying the old ones, thus increasing the protection afforded to those investigated,” the report points out.
Businessman Víctor de Aldama, the epicenter of the alleged corruption plot, is said to need a large number of cell phones at relatively short notice, as he was in some cases ordering between two and three phones per month. The businessman’s argument was that this “polluted” these devices.
The Civil Guard claims that De Aldama “used these phones to communicate with other people who may be subject to investigation, outside the closed framework of the organization itself, thus generating a risk for the rest of its components. The businessman even claimed to have used this method “to avoid getting caught”.
The president of Zamora CF also exchanged messages from these cell phones with various people, among whom his partner, Claudio Rivas, stands out. The agents recall that both would be involved “in various frauds in the hydrocarbon sector” which are now under the control of the National Court.
In fact, both were arrested this week by the Civil Guard in an operation coordinated by Judge Santiago Pedraz and which is kept secret. The magistrate will have the opportunity to take their statements this Thursday, when agents will make them available to the court.
No confirmation of the guard’s claims
On the other hand, the Civil Guard informs the judge that Commander Villalba affirms in one of the intercepted conversations that Koldo García called him “several times to try to confirm that it was the UCO that was after his steps “. something he allegedly “ignored” until Koldo himself, “out of the blue”, confirmed this point during a call.
“He confirmed to me that it was the UCO and not another police force which I did not attach importance to and we continued to talk about other subjects. Keep in mind that Koldo is a very connected person and expected to have very good relationships at high levels. According to Koldo, it was the current director of the Civil Guard who informed him of these details,” Villalba said. It should be noted that the director in question would be Leonardo Marcos, recently dismissed from his position by the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska.
The agents, however, assure in their report that until the date of its publication – dated this October – they have not “found evidence which corroborates this point”. In addition, the investigation underlines “the lightness with which Koldo discusses his relations with the people concerned in front of third parties, undoubtedly to give himself a certain importance”.
In this sense, they give as an example Koldo’s conversation in which “he seems to indicate to his interlocutor that he would have met the deputy operational director of the Civil Guard on a specific morning, this assertion being false because” the agents themselves would have maintained “monitoring of activities” on Koldo during that day, “corroborating the non-existence of this interview”.
Remember that the Government responded in writing to the PP last May that this meeting had not “taken place”. Koldo García himself, in statements to Europa Press, categorically denied knowing the former director of the Armed Institute, rejecting what the UCO claims in its report.
