economy and politics

The judge of the ‘Koldo case’ rules out calling Sánchez and Calviño as witnesses for the rescue of Air Europa

The judge of the National Court investigating the ‘Koldo case’ has refused to call as witnesses the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the former Vice President Nadia Calviño, as requested by the popular accusations Hazte Oír and Iustitia Europa in relation to the rescue. of Air Europa.

In an order, the magistrate explains that the objective of this investigation is to investigate the irregularities surrounding the criminal organization that supposedly profited from the sale of masks during the pandemic and not about the possible irregularities that could have existed in public aid. of the rescue of Air Europa.

The judge considers that his testimonies would not contribute “anything new” and maintains that the “correct way” to advance the investigation is to analyze the “information” that the “investigating police unit” makes available to the court. In this case, the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard. The popular accusations had also requested the statement of Leonardo Marcos, former director of the Civil Guard, which was denied when the judge understood that his appearance “lacked interest.” The magistrate leaves for later the decision to summon two other civil guards pending the opinion of the Prosecutor’s Office, one of them very close to Koldo García, the main accused.

The far-right accusations Hazte Oír and Iustitia Europa asked Judge Moreno to summon Sánchez and Calviño after their names appeared referenced in a report from that police unit. According to messages intercepted from those involved in the ‘Koldo case’, both would have met with former minister José Luis Ábalos to address the issue of the rescue.

The airline, as happened with other companies in the sector at the European level, received hundreds of millions of euros in loans from the Government to avoid bankruptcy at a time when confinement brought global air transport to a screeching halt.

Ábalos, pending from the Supreme Court

The Koldo case, initially baptized as ‘operation Delorme’, has been investigating for months whether a corrupt network led by Koldo García and businessman Víctor de Aldama obtained millions of euros in awards from public organizations during the pandemic, taking advantage of the proximity of the former to the then Minister, José Luis Ábalos, and his department.

In recent weeks, part of the investigations have been directed precisely against Ábalos, with the judge referring the case to the Supreme Court so that he can be charged for his “main role” in the plot, which Ábalos himself has denied for the moment.

The rescue of Air Europa is one of the main ways that have tried to promote, for now without success, the popular accusations that share the case of Koldo García and that of Begoña Gómez. In the case against the wife of the President of the Government, the Provincial Court of Madrid has had to leave out of the proceedings of Judge Peinado the investigations that he had made based on the “mere suspicions” of the initial complaint by Manos Médicas.

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