The withdrawal from the ministry and the return to politics
José Luis Ábalos was abruptly removed from the Ministry of Transport he led in July 2021, but his career in the PSOE did not end there. The Socialists refished him to go on the lists of the general elections of the past 23-J, months before the Koldo case broke out.
However, up to four ministries would know that the Civil Guard and the Anticorruption Prosecutor were tightening the siege on the immediate environment of Ábalos, according to El Mundo. The newspaper has had access to the summary of the case, which states that the Interior, Transport and Health were required in May 2022 to inform the Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the alleged commissions, and the Tax Agency, dependent on the Treasury , had been investigating the plot, ex officio, since 2020.
Inquiries and investigations
Although it is emphasized that the investigations have been so stealthy that they have surprised the Anticorruption prosecutors, part of the Spanish government administration had news of the investigations surrounding Ábalos. At least since 2020, when the Tax Agency began to investigate the ex-officio plot, the environment of the former minister was in the spotlight.
As stated in the summary, even the Ministry previously led by Ábalos had to respond to an Anticorruption request in May 2022. It is precisely with this request that the agents learn that the document with which they are contracted the masks at Soluciones de Gestión y Soporte a las Empresas SL had been signed by the president of Adif herself, Isabel Pardo de Vera.
Investigation by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office
The European Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into the contracts signed, during the first stage of the pandemic, by the Canary Islands Health Service and the Balearic Islands Health Service. The European Prosecutor’s Office has adopted this decision after collecting additional information from the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and the Central Court of Inquiry number 2 of the National Court, which are investigating in Spain seven alleged members of the Koldo case.
“According to the information requested, the decision was taken to formally initiate the investigation for alleged crimes of embezzlement of public funds, embezzlement and influence peddling in accordance with national legislation and the Regulation of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office”, he pointed out in a statement made public last Monday.
