The Civil Guard officer accused in the Koldo case appeals his dismissal in Venezuela and the three-month suspension

The commander of the Civil Guard Rubén V., accused of bribery in the corruption scheme known as the Koldo case, has appealed the termination of his assignment in Venezuela that was dictated by the Ministry of the Interior after the accusation against him and the three-month suspension were revealed. which Defense imposed as a precautionary measure. The Supreme Court will hold an in-person hearing on July 3 to decide on the appeals of the armed institute officer, according to a decree to which elDiario.es has had access.

Rubén V. was arrested on March 3 at the Madrid airport when he was about to board a plane bound for Caracas, where he was assigned as an Interior attaché at the Spanish Embassy. The Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the armed institute reached him analyzing one of the WhatsApp groups of the alleged plot to award public contracts for masks in a pandemic. In those conversations there were references to periodic cash payments to someone referred to as “R.”

A UCO report incorporated into the case indicates that this “R” is Commander Rubén V., from the Information Service and, at the time of the arrest, stationed in Caracas. Between 2013 and 2018, Rubén was assigned to the Special Central Unit (UCE) of the Civil Guard, with powers in anti-terrorist matters. During his trips to Euskadi he would have established contact with Koldo García, Ábalos’ former advisor who at that time was dedicated to the world of security, was a collaborator of several Information services and was a member of the Socialist Party of Navarra.

Over time, the relationship between the civil guard and Koldo became a friendship and that made Rubén V. meet the businessman Víctor de Aldama, considered the procurer for the allocation of masks by public organizations under the Socialist Government Administration. “About R, 2 every month,” he wrote in the Aldama messages. Investigators believe that the commander received 2,000 euros in cash every month. In exchange, he would have obtained a “secure line of communication” to Víctor Aldama, one of the main investigators. UCO agents believe that Rubén could be behind some of the tips that Koldo and the rest of the alleged suspects received that they were being investigated.

The arrest of Commander Rubén, from the field of anti-terrorist fighting and a trusted person of one of the main commanders of this structure of the Civil Guard, caused friction with the Central Operational Unit, which dissipated when the evidence against the investigated person came to light. . After giving a statement before Judge Ismael Moreno, Rubén V. was released with precautionary measures: his passport was withdrawn and he was prohibited from leaving the country.

The Government then made two decisions. The Ministry of the Interior, on which the Civil Guard functionally depends, opened a file for very serious misconduct and dismissed the commander from his post as Interior attaché in Venezuela. These destinations abroad are highly sought after among agents because they bring significant remuneration. For its part, the Ministry of Defense, to which the Civil Guard responds due to its military nature, issued a precautionary suspension of three months.

Rubén V. appealed both decisions through the Contentious-Administrative route and the Central Court number 3 of the National Court issued a decree by which the claim was admitted for processing and established July 3 as the date of the hearing where the parties will present their arguments.

The dismissal resolution of the Ministry of the Interior, signed by its head, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, states that the file against the commander is based on the possibility that he has violated article 7.7 of the Disciplinary Regime Law, relating to the “abuse of powers that cause serious harm to the Administration.”

Possible problems with Venezuela

The resolution of the Ministry of the Interior motivating the dismissal, to which this media has had access, cited the problems that could arise with Venezuela if the commander remained in his position as well as the “image of Spain as a whole.”

“The Foreign Destinations Commission concludes that the procedural situation of Mr. Villalba Carnerero not only de facto prevents him from carrying out his current job, but at the same time it may cause the deterioration of international police cooperation and in a sense broader, undermine relations between Spain and Venezuela and the image of Spain as a whole, also being the situation of Mr. Villalba Carnerero, object of wide attention and dissemination by the media and social networks,” signed Grande-Marlaska.

The precautionary measures imposed on police officers and civil guards, as well as dismissals, by the Ministry of the Interior often become a problem due to the resources that the agents present in the Contentious-Administrative route and that reap positive results for them. The most relevant in recent times was the dismissal of the head of the Madrid Command, Colonel Diego Pérez de los Cobos, who managed to be restored to his position and has managed to annul the calls for which the Interior denied him promotion to general. .