The judge of the National Audience, Jose de la Mata does not find credible evidence that substantiates that the Popular Party (PP) received donations in exchange for local administrations, regional or central-controlled training awarded specific works in exchange for that money.
According to explained sources of the research to The Forefront, since the judge decides to reopen the case known as ‘papers of Barcenas’ in November 2017, with the momentum of accusations as the United Left , has not drawn a conclusive test to impute to PP leaders or businessmen for having rigged public contracts.
This research is part of a separate piece of ‘Gürtel’ and opened in February 2013 after they were made public known as ‘papers of Barcenas’ prepared by the extesorero of the PP with the alleged funding spot of the match during the last 20 years.
These papers were made public after the formation that was then Mariano Rajoy was driven out of the party to Luis Barcenas after discovering that hide several accounts in Switzerland where he came to accumulate up to 48 million euros. The PP had kept Barcenas in the game despite that since 2009, was accused in the ‘case Gürtel. However, when in January 2013, the swiss authorities decided to send information about your accounts, the party was considered unsustainable their stay in the match and sent him away. Precisely because of these facts, the extesorero is in prison serving a sentence of 33 years in prison.
Maneuver Cospedal
This maneuver the led the secretary-general then, Maria Dolores de Cospedal . After his ouster, Barcenas was quick to respond and weeks later, he announced the collection of donations on the part of entrepreneurs, the majority of the construction, the training is not declared to the Court of Accounts, as well as the delivery of bonuses to leaders of the PP, among which would be the own Rajoy and Cospedal, according to the testimony of Barcenas.
At the time the instruction was directed by the judge Pablo Ruz but eventually admitted that he could not act against the PP or against the businessmen because the Police were unable to prove that these donations were finalists, that is to say, had as its object the award of a concrete work.
Precisely, in order to prove an offence of bribery, both on the part of the pay as the one who receives money in exchange of contracts in Public Administrations, is to seek a correlation between a donation and works. However, legal sources insist that to day of today it has not been able to verify, for the simple fact that there is a donation in exchange for a contract. Rather, the thesis of the investigators is that the donations of businessmen contributed to over time, looking for a favour but in an implicit way, not explicitly by a specific contract.
the failed Strategy of Barcenas
Ruz decided to archive a large part of the cause, and only left open the part that affected Barcenas and the study of architecture that made the work of the headquarters of the PP headquarters in madrid’s calle de Genoa because it became part of the reform on black money exceeding 120,000 euros without declaring by exercise assuming the commission of a tax offence. By these facts, are pending to be prosecuted.
however, when the Kills took the Central Court of Instruction number 5 of the Audiencia Nacional decided to reopen the cause after learning of a recording of an entrepreneur in the framework of the ‘ Operation Lezo’ -by who were arrested and sent to jail the former president of the Community of Madrid, Ignacio González – in which you acknowledged having given money to b for the PP in exchange for a few works.
the Lack of credibility of witnesses
This entrepreneur, Rafael Palencia , was subpoenaed to testify before the Kills but denied such claims, which left the judge and prosecutor, without evidence to push the issue. However, the case remained open. During the celebration of the trial by the ‘Gürtel’, the ringleader of the plot, Francisco Belt , maintained that he had done an intermediary between the PP and the big companies for being awarded the works in return for payments to the PP. The Kills will be cited to declare in his cause, but he refused to testify.
there Have been various proceedings that the magistrate, next to the anti-Corruption Office , have been practicing, but none of them has borne fruit, according to hold these sources. The only testimony that could have value was the statement of the former mayor of Boadilla del Monte (Madrid), Arturo Gonzalez Panero , who would have ensured that Barcenas was called for that would grant some of his works at Constructora Hispánica or business of the head of the Gürtel, Francisco Correa. However, the version of ‘The Albondiguilla’, which declared the 28th of November, not just to be credible to researchers, because assured that he had refused to bend to the pressure when, in reality, this former mayor is accused of having rigged contracts in favor of the plot of Strap.
’Operation ‘ Kitchen’, last trick
To ensure that the cause pick up momentum in the proceedings, the judge and the prosecutor to find evidence that relationships donations with specific works. If not, these sources argue that the research will again bound to the file as already happened previously. The last trick that has the Kills are the documents that may appear of the so-called ‘Operation ‘ Kitchen’ , a maneuver directed from the Ministry of the Interior in the time of Jorge Fernandez Diaz to steal sensitive documents to Barcenas between the years 2013 and 2015.
The judge is waiting for is from the Inside, once they have declassified these documents to be protected until now by the Official Secrets Act, refer to the documentation that was obtained illegally-in the case of save-. The only thing that can be useful to the instructor are proof that any company will pay donations for the PP in exchange for amañaron contracts on their behalf and so certify the offence of bribery.
however, although at the end Of la Mata is located in a cul-de-sac and not be able to continue with the instruction, there is already a ruling of the National Audience, for the ‘Gürtel’ that has certified that the RFP was managed for years a ‘box B’ with money not declared to the Court of Accounts.
Related Egea, the judge who dynamited the ‘case Villarejo’ Interior acknowledges that used funds reserved for stealing documents Barcenas, The judge denied time to investigate Cospedal and her husband for the theft of documents Barcenas
