The civil guard investigated stated that Koldo García asked him to know if Pedro Sánchez had the phone tapped

Koldo García, former advisor to José Luis Ábalos, asked a civil guard from the Information Service, who was paid by the plot, if the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, or the then head of Public Works had their phones “tapped”. always according to the agent’s version after being arrested. This is stated in the latest report that the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Armed Institute has sent to the judge of the National Court investigating the corruption plot surrounding the purchase of masks with public money during the Covid pandemic.

In the same report, the agents detail that Koldo García made requests to Rubén Villalba – the investigated agent – that “were of a highly sensitive nature, such as trying to know if the telephone number” of the Chief Executive or the former Minister of Development “they were intervened,” Europa Press reports.

The aforementioned report, which focuses on Villalba’s alleged participation in the case, reveals that the Civil Guard agent was in charge of ensuring that the alleged members of the plot could “communicate safely and without possible judicial action.” or police.”

Security was, according to the investigating force, “one of the most important aspects” for the alleged achiever of the plot, businessman Víctor de Aldama, although Koldo García “would also have been provided” with secure motives for his interests.

The man who was Ábalos’ advisor, according to the Armed Institute, used these devices “especially during his period performing professional tasks for the Ministry.” The agent who supplied the phones also maintains that Ábalos also used some. Villalba made these statements once he was arrested in a second phase of the operation.

“During his period in the Government and very rarely outside of this position, he has always asked us for basic telephony, not a smartphone, to make his calls. On some 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 “changing them” to the members of the plot and “destroying the old ones, therefore increasing the protection provided to those investigated,” the report highlights.

Businessman Víctor de Aldama, the epicenter of the alleged corruption plot, would require a high number of cell phones in relatively short periods of time, since in some cases he ordered between two and three phones per month. The businessman’s argument was that it “polluted” those devices.

The Civil Guard maintains that De Aldama “used these telephones to communicate with other people who could be under investigation, outside the sealed scope of the organization itself, and thereby generating a risk for the rest of its components.” The businessman even claimed that he used this method “so that they wouldn’t get caught.”

The president of Zamora CF also exchanged messages from those cell phones with various people, among whom his partner, Claudio Rivas, stands out. The agents recall that both would allegedly be involved “in various frauds in the hydrocarbon sector” that are now under the scrutiny of the National Court.

In fact, both have been 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 the agents make them available to the court.

No confirmation of guard’s claims

On the other hand, the Civil Guard informs the judge that Commander Villalba maintains in one of the conversations that were intercepted that Koldo García called him “on more than one occasion to try to confirm that it was the UCO who was after his steps.” to which he would have “ignored” until in a call Koldo himself, “out of the blue,” confirmed that point.

“He confirmed to me that it was the UCO and not another police force to which I did not give importance and we continued talking about other topics. Keep in mind that Koldo is a very connected person and supposedly with very good relationships at high levels. According to Koldo, it was the current director of the Civil Guard who informed him of such details,” said Villalba. It should be noted that the director referred to 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 issuance – dated this month of October – they have not “found evidence that corroborates this point.” Furthermore, the investigative force highlights “the lightness with which Koldo refers to his relationships with relevant people before third parties, presumably 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 with the Deputy Operational Director of the Civil Guard on a specific morning, this statement being false because” the agents themselves would have maintained ” a control of activities” on Koldo during that day, “corroborating the non-existence of that interview.”

It should be remembered 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, has categorically denied that he knows the former director of the Armed Institute, discarding what the UCO maintains in its report.