Official sources confirmed that the Central Operations Unit of the Civil Guard arrested five people as part of actions that were declared secret and linked to illegal employment. Among those detained are the president of the Almería Provincial Council, Javier Aureliano García (PP), the vice president and his right-hand man, Fernando Jiménez, and the mayor of Vines since 2003 and also from the People’s Party, Rodrigo Sánchez Simón. Agents search the homes of detainees.
Both Jimenez and Sánchez Simón are accused in a case involving the collection of illegal kickbacks between 200,000 and 400,000 euros for awarding a contract for the supply of medical supplies worth 2 million euros. The investigation focuses on the contract for masks, protective clothing and gloves that Aureliano signed on April 8, 2020, in full custody, with the company Azor Corporate Ibérica, owned by Kilian López, whose investigation into drug trafficking, arms sales and money laundering by a judge in Barcelona led to that award.
On 15 June 2021, agents from the Central Operations Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard stormed the Almería District Council and arrested Óscar Leria who was then serving as Third Vice President and Head of the Urban Planning District. Liria, who is the nephew of the Council of Fines Councilor, is at the epicenter of this conspiracy, as the investigation concluded with 17 people giving statements before the judge investigating the case last March, nearly four years after the investigations began.
The Vice President of the Governorate Council, who in 2021 was a delegate to head that body, is considered to be the one who proposed the contract to supply masks, and for this reason he is being investigated as a perpetrator of bribery and embezzlement crimes. In his statement before the President of the Investigative Court No. 1 of Almería, and when he appeared before the investigative commission opened by the Regional Council in the summer of 2021 – which was closed without the officials thanks to the votes of the People’s Party, the Ciudadanos and the abstention of the Vox Party – Giménez confirmed that it was Leiria who recommended Azur’s name to implement the contract and that he was not aware of the possible payment of kickbacks. He also denied knowing Kylian Lopez personally, although he claimed to have only spoken to him on the phone once.
Jiménez was asked about the conversations that took place between him, Leiria and the head of the provincial council in a conversation shared by the three. They alluded to a gift of a TV, to which Jimenez responded that it was a “joke” between friends and that he had never received gifts from anyone. In another WhatsApp conversation, according to the UCO report already published by this newspaper, you can read the messages exchanged between Aureliano and Liria: “Oscar… we have to see what you have gotten into with the masks!!!!”, says the famous chief of the Almería people, to which he replies: “Oh, but I want you to see what it’s like, man. I don’t want you to see yourself without housing materials…” Aureliano replies, “You’ll make me set fire to the masks,” to which Liria responds with “Jaaaa,” and Aureliano continues with “Shut up, yaaaa.” “Well man, this is getting really ugly,” Lyria ended the conversation.
Not only did the delivery of this batch of masks take a long time, but part of the batches arrived in a defective condition, prompting the county council to approve on June 1, 2021 – 15 days before the arrests – a decree terminating the contract with Azur due to the company’s non-compliance. Liria also intervened in this process, as evidenced by conversations with Lopez. The UCO confirms that the Regional Council initially demanded from Azur an amount between 200,000 and 300,000 euros, and that after the allegations, mediated by the then Vice-President, the amount was reduced to 38,000 euros. “Answer by saying you don’t agree with it and discuss it well and everything will be resolved,” Liria told Lopez in a conversation from February 2021.
(Breaking news. There will be an extension)