The intervention of the UCO in Red.es
The Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard has carried out an intervention at the headquarters of the public company Red.es by order of the European Prosecutor’s Office. The objective of this intervention is to collect information related to the contracts that Red.es has made with the businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés. These contracts are being investigated within the framework of a case involving Begoña Gómez, wife of Pedro Sánchez, current president of the Spanish government.
According to reports from El Mundo, this is the second time that the UCO intervenes in Red.es in relation to the company’s contracts with Barrabés. Begoña Gómez would have recommended Barrabés for the creation of a master’s degree at the Complutense University of Madrid, which has led to him being investigated for influence peddling and corruption in business. It has been discovered that Gómez wrote letters of recommendation that allowed Barrabés to obtain public contracts worth more than 10 million euros.
The UCO has collected emails related to these contracts after conducting prior recordings. Currently, there are two open investigations into the contracts between Red.es and Juan Carlos Barrabés.
The actions of the UCO under judicial supervision
The UCO’s actions in Red.es have been supervised by a guarantee judge, according to El Mundo. The agents showed up at the company’s headquarters last week with two warrants. The first was issued by the judge in the case, Juan Carlos Peinado, and requested the files related to the contracts that had a letter of recommendation from Begoña Gómez to the Complutense University program. The second order was issued by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and ordered the safeguarding of emails in procedures certified in the European Social Fund.
The intervention of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office
The intervention of the Civil Guard occurred after the European Prosecutor’s Office showed interest in the case and asked the judge if the contracts affected European funds. In response to this query, the judge reported that the contracts investigated involved the UTE Innova Next SLU – Escuela de Negocis The Valley, a company owned by Juan Carlos Barrabés. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office asked the judge to send it the relevant documentation to evaluate whether he would exercise his jurisdiction in the investigation of these contracts.
Businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés is summoned as a witness in the case, although his statement is pending a medical report due to health problems. Begoña Gómez, for her part, has been summoned as being investigated and must testify on July 5. In addition, the judge has postponed the testimony of five witnesses to Sunday, June 16.
