The accusation of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office against the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office
The Koldo case remains controversial. Recently, it has been revealed that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office has accused the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office of not providing all the information related to the alleged irregularities in the contracts for the purchase of masks by the autonomous governments of the Balearic and Canary Islands, known as the Koldo case. . This accusation is found in the decree issued on March 4 by the European Prosecutor’s Office, according to El Periódico de España. According to this document, the investigations into the European funds related to the Koldo case were initiated solely from press reports that reported on the contracts awarded by the Canarian Health Service and the Health Service of the Balearic Islands. The European Prosecutor’s Office denounces that the Chief Anti-Corruption Prosecutor, Alejandro Luzón, did not mention any suspicion of irregularity in said contracts nor did he provide any of the reports prepared by the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard.
Hiding information and lack of cooperation
The decree of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office indicates that until now, that is, until the decree issued in March, there was no knowledge of the information published in the media that motivated the opening of this investigation procedure by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. According to the complaint, the alleged irregularities in the European funds were not detected until the news was made public that affected the contracts awarded by the Canarian Health Service and the Health Service of the Balearic Islands. Furthermore, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office regrets that the lack of information provided by Anti-Corruption forced them to carry out an initial analysis without having all the available data. It is also highlighted that in October last year, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office requested all available information from Anti-Corruption to determine whether it had jurisdiction to investigate suspicious public contracts. However, the lack of response from Anti-Corruption led the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to request the information again on December 21, 2023.
Delay in the delivery of information
According to the European organization, it was not until January 12, 2024 that they received a document with the requested information. However, they point out that this document did not refer to the facts and crimes investigated in each of the contracts, but rather reported on a complaint filed on September 8, 2023 related to the Koldo case. The legal actions were directed to the Central Court of Instruction number 2 and Ismael Moreno, accusing them of alleged crimes of criminal organization, money laundering, bribery and influence peddling. Based on information provided by the General Directorate of European Funds of the Ministry of Finance and Public Service, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office discovered that one of the contracts investigated had been financed with European funds.