Supreme Court Judge Leopoldo Puente sends to temporary prison, sending and without bail, the former Minister of Transport, José Luis Ábalos, and his advisor Koldo García, who proposed to stand trial on November 3 on charges of material contract violations. … Health during the pandemic, up to €53 million, was awarded to Soluciones de Gestión represented by commission agent Víctor de Aldama. The entry of a member of Congress (Abalos joined the mixed group after the Socialist Workers Party suspended him from the struggle) in temporary prison for corruption crimes, after his trial, is an unprecedented event in a democracy.
The judge obliges the lawyer to administer justice to do so Informing the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the decisionWhich affects the personal situation of the resident.
Judge Leopoldo Puente issued two prison orders, one for the former deputy and minister and the other for his advisor, after listening to the public prosecutor, his defenses and the accusations in court. They will be transferred, according to legal sources, to Soto del Real prison in Madrid.
In the order by which the judge preventively sends Abalos to prison, he justifies that “the time has come to reconsider the precautionary measures of a personal nature imposed so far in this particular case against Mr. Abalos Meko” for three reasons. First, because on November 3 he issued an order ending the investigation of both of them and saw the evidence to sentence them. He considers these signs to be “solid and crystallized.” “These sufficient reasons or rational indicators of criminality now appear crystallized in the judicial decision that puts an end to the investigation phase in The procedure gives way to what is called the intermediate stage.”
Secondly, the judge states that the Anti-Corruption Public Prosecution had previously presented its memorandums requesting the opening of the trial Imprisonment sentences exceeding 10 years when the case is considered.
Finally, the judge highlighted Ábalos’ status as an accredited person and that he is under investigation in the other case related to the alleged collection of kickbacks for public works awards, in which the former organizing secretary of the PSOE, Santos Cerdán, was also investigated.
After the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office filed the indictment against both of them, requesting 24 years’ imprisonment for Abalos and 19 and a half years for Koldo García for facts that could, in principle, constitute a criminal organization, bribery, influence peddling and misappropriation of public funds, the judge summoned them to a hearing of precautionary measures, known as “vistilla” in judicial jargon. In this regard, both the anti-corruption prosecutor, Alejandro Luzón, and the lawyer of the Popular Party, which represents all the popular accusations, requested temporary detention before the trial of the case and without the possibility of avoiding it on bail, claiming that there was a risk of flight on the part of both of them precisely because of the proximity of the trial and the high demand for the prison sentence they face.
For its part, Abalos’ defense said there was no flight risk due to his roots as a lawmaker, because he attends Congress daily, and alluded to the right to represent his constituents, which he considered would be violated if he went to prison preventively.
Small backpack
José Luis Abalos arrived in his private car, a Tiguan, to his appointment with Judge Puente, as had happened on previous occasions. He entered the Supreme Court at 9:10 a.m., 50 minutes before his arraignment, carrying a small leather backpack. With a serious gesture and greeting to the press, he did not make any statements.
In the order in which Judge Puente, on November 3, proposed the trial of both the alleged illegal Covid contracts in exchange for gifts and economic benefits that Victor de Aldama was to provide, he clearly held that they had facilitated “preferential access to management” to the businessman and the commission agent in exchange for an “economic benefit.”
According to De Aldama, the commissions that Abalos and Koldo García would have claimed would have amounted to two million euros and half a million euros respectively. The contracts awarded by the Ministry of Transport to the company he represents, Management Solutions, amounted to 53 million euros.
For the judge, the three investigated “collaborated, very shortly after the first assumed the position of Minister of the Government of Spain, to take advantage of this circumstance and the natural influence that he expected, to benefit economically from the award of contracts that could be carried out in the field of public administration, as well as to take advantage of any opportunities that could be offered to them in realizing their economic interest to do so using the aforementioned valuable influence.”
That benefit could have come, as the judge reviewed in his order, through various means. The judge described various ways to “guarantee” the collection of illegal kickbacks by the former minister and his advisor, starting with “a lease with an option to purchase an apartment owned by Mr. Victor Gonzalo de Aldama, located on Paseo de la Castellana nª 164, in favor of Mr. José Luis Abalos Meco, setting an annual rent of 30 thousand euros, which Mr. José Luis Abalos Meco has never paid.” Ábalos, who also did not occupy the said property at any time, set the acquisition price at 750,000 euros – deducting from this amount the amounts given as rent, as agreed – in the event that the purchase option was exercised, the agreed purchase price was significantly lower than the real market price” for the cash payment, according to Koldo García, “at least from the month of October 2019, until the year 2021, “the monthly amount of 10,000 euros”. It also includes the monthly payment for renting a luxury apartment in the middle of Plaza España in Madrid to Abalos’ extramarital partner, Jessica Rodriguez, and renting a holiday villa in La Alcaidesa (Cádiz) in exchange for the alleged management on behalf of the company Villafuel, owned by Claudio Rivas, Aldama’s partner.