The Government of the Balearic Islands, led by Francina Armengol, and the company linked to Víctor de Aldama closed the purchase of 1.4 million masks 15 days before the Public Sector Contracting Platform published the administrative process for the acquisition. This is one of the conclusions reached by the Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard, in a report on the contracts of the case Koldo network with the Balearic government. According to this document, the Health Service of the Balearic Islands and the company Soluciones de Gestión agreed to purchase the masks on April 26, 24 hours after Koldo García had contacted the current president of the Congress of Deputies to introduce himself. The masks arrived that same day because a batch that was already on its way to the Ministry of Transport was used and, according to the UCO, was diverted to the islands with the mediation of the then minister’s advisor. But the emergency contract was not published until May 12.
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The conversations recorded in the latest report that the UCO sent to Judge Ismael Moreno, who is investigating the part of the Koldo case being examined in the National Court, show how the then advisor to Ábalos extended his enormous influence beyond the ministry to get other administrations to buy masks from Soluciones de Gestión, from whose sales he and Ábalos allegedly received benefits. This is one of the main theses of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, which considers that the purchase of masks during the worst days of the covid-19 pandemic with the Ministry of Transport facilitated Aldama’s company later becoming the awardee of other contracts to supply protective health material to other administrations and that they took advantage of their contacts to know the needs of each and thus anticipate the bidding processes.
The arrangements for the sale to the Balearic Islands began, according to the UCO, on April 25, 2020, when the first direct contact between Koldo García and Armengol took place. The advisor writes to the Balearic president to introduce himself (“I am Koldo García, I am with José Luis Ábalos”) and asks her to call him. There is no record of whether the call took place, but six hours later, the management director of the Balearic Health Institute, Manuel Palomino, contacts Ábalos’s advisor to inquire about the masks that Koldo García had allegedly offered to the president. “They gave me your contact to access 1M [million] FFP2 [masks] at 2.50.” Koldo informing that they have already given him the contact to get one million FFP2 masks at 2.50 euros. How could he have the technical sheets? To make a quick decision,” Palomino asks. Two minutes later, Aldama sends the contact of the senior Balearic official to Iñigo Rotaeche, executive of Soluciones de Gestión.
From that moment, there is an intense exchange of communications between the health officials of the Balearic Islands and those of the company to close the purchase. According to the report, Koldo García offered Palomino to divert to Mallorca a plane loaded with masks that was already ready for an order from the Ministry of Transport. This circumstance caused concern among the officials of the Balearic health service, but the businessmen reassured them and proposed several solutions. The pace the operation took did raise doubts among the members of Soluciones de Gestión, according to the police report, which records a conversation in which Rotaeche tells Daniel Serra: “You will have time to ask for regularization.” From here, the UCO infers that the masks were purchased “without having regularized the corresponding contract.”
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Meanwhile, Aldama asks Rotaeche about the latest arrangements and he informs him that everything is already loaded, that 1,460,800 masks are being sent. Aldama replies: “They have to go no matter what and if not the little one will call,” “possibly referring to Koldo,” the agents point out, adding: “Through this conversation, once again, the role played by Koldo in these matters would be appreciated, solving problems that may arise, in relation to the commercial operations of the companies linked to Víctor de Aldama, all in exchange for economic compensation.”
The masks arrive from China to Spain the next day and, a few hours later, Armengol contacts Koldo García to tell him that they have already informed her “that it went well” and asks the ministerial advisor if he knows “if anyone sells children’s masks.” “I’ll fix it for you. Give me a few hours,” García replies. “It’s to get an idea of prices…,” the Balearic president explains. To which the then ministerial advisor responds: “Man, for children it will be almost free. No one will want to do business with that.” Hours later, Koldo García informs Armengol that they could bring an order of children’s masks in seven days for 800,000 euros, to which the president replies that he contact Palomino.
The UCO highlights several messages among the members of Soluciones de Gestión that would show, according to the agents, that the purchase and delivery of the masks was carried out “without having previously prepared and signed the corresponding contract.” “We need the client to at least sign yesterday’s proforma to give validity and that tomorrow they issue some letter of formalization,” Sierra warns Rotaeche.