Businessman Víctor de Aldama had them “on the payroll”, he paid, demanded, and no one resisted him. Minister José Luis Ábalos was the great influence, “doing the biggest things” in exchange for various considerations. And his advisor, Koldo García, was the “transmission belt”. This was made clear by Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Balas, the head of the investigation carried out by the Civil Guard in the Koldo case, first under the orders of the Prosecutor’s Office and then the courts. His assertiveness left little room for the defenses, who had to use their imagination to provide alternative (legal) explanations. “What if…?” they probed the ground. A thousand times until they made the president of the court, Andrés Martínez Arrieta, explode. “From now on I will be more radical with you,” the magistrate cut in. His patience had run out.
Read more Dmitrovic prevents Espanyol’s defeat against a Levante that is left wanting
The other protagonist of the scene was, for a change, Marino Turiel, Ábalos’s lawyer. Until now, the skirmish had been with García’s lawyer, but in this tenth session, they had to give it their all because it was the last one before the accused speak, each presents their conclusions, and everyone goes home (or to jail) to await sentencing. Turiel, a gentle man who throughout the trial had acted as a counterpoint to his vehement colleague, had no other choice. The fight, also for a change, was over the purchase of masks. “What incompatibility do you see then?”, Turiel asked. If the contracting procedure was legal, if suppliers could be pre-selected, if they were cheap and arrived… He nodded. “The ‘Masks Operation’ cannot be understood separately, it is a whole,” a civil guard replied. “6 million euros in exchange for 10.000 euros monthly?”, the lawyer posed, comparing Aldama’s profit with the alleged payments to the ministerial duo. The confrontation was already looming. The climax came when Turiel tried to get the agents to verbalize that contracts were also made with companies unrelated to the alleged criminal organization. “I’m not interested,” the uniformed officer replied. “You have a fantastic memory for what you want,” he reproached Balas, thereby activating Martínez Arrieta. And not with pleasure. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. His co-counsel whispered words of encouragement to him.
To satiety, the president had to remind them that “witnesses testify about facts, not valuations.” Enough of “factual alternatives that are not on the table,” he scolded. “We are talking about thin air,” he lamented. But the defenses did not give up. They started with a classic. If it is possible to access “remotely” the information seized by the Civil Guard. The thesis of spy software, of “Trojans”, Pegasus. “Impossible,” the agents stated.
Afterwards, they tried to blur the profiles drawn by Balas. If all conversations are between Aldama and García, what role does Ábalos play?, Turiel launched. Well, he provided access to “high authorities,” even messaging with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, about the future visit of the then Venezuelan Vice President, Delcy Rodríguez, the witnesses framed. The ex-advisor’s lawyer, Leticia de la Hoz, counterattacked by portraying her client as a mere emissary. “No, everyone used someone else for their purposes” and Koldo was Ábalos’s “alter ego,” another agent replied.
Read more The Army arrests ‘El Jardinero’ in Nayarit
From Koldo to Karmina
In the third round, the defenses sought to sow doubt about the existence of considerations. First, the cash. Could the ‘K’ to whom those 10.000 euros monthly supposedly went be another Koldo or someone named Karmina? “Have you investigated that?”, the lawyer interjected. “No, but the recurrence of payment” to “Grandu” or “Cromañón” and his people is seen, Balas reacted. And why do they keep paying them when they have already been dismissed?, the defenses probed. “We don’t know if Aldama understands that a deputy has certain influence,” the civil guards reasoned.
Next page. The alleged payments in kind, those that transmuted into houses. “Once Ábalos and Jésica have ended up like a dog’s dinner, does he continue paying up to two years later?”, De la Hoz exclaimed, alluding to the famous apartment in Madrid’s Plaza de España where the minister’s partner lived at the expense of the alleged plot. “Everyone conducts relationships as they wish,” the investigator resolved. And, regarding that chalet in Marbella that would have come out “free” due to the press release, communiqué, or whatever the Ministry of Transport did to support the rescue of Air Europa, do you know that Ábalos had a “particular family” and each one —the ex, the wife, children from various marriages— paid “Dutch treat” according to their expenses?, the lawyer pressed, arguing that this was why investigators had not found any payment from the clan. “I don’t know,” the witness admitted. “Excuse me, I’m a bit slow,” he justified himself.
It had already been almost ten hours, with permission to eat and some breaks to relieve the “calls of nature” requested by the witnesses themselves. “How far do you intend to go with those statements? I don’t understand either,” Martínez Arrieta confessed. The anti-corruption prosecutor, Alejandro Luzón, admitted that the “permanent murmur” was distracting him. Koldo massaged his temples. But the defense lawyers did not lose the thread. “I’m trying to bring out…”, said De la Hoz. “It’s already out,” Martínez Arrieta thought he was concluding. Far from it. Several more hours remained until the longed-for “session adjourned” was heard. It was 0:03 the next day.
