Concealment of information
The Koldo case continues to generate controversy. It has now been revealed that the European Prosecutor’s Office has accused the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office of not providing all the information it had about alleged irregularities related to contracts for the purchase of masks by the autonomous governments of the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, known as the Koldo case. This accusation is contained in a decree issued by the European Prosecutor’s Office on March 4, as reported by El Periódico de España (https://www.softcatala.org/resum-de-textos-en-catala/). According to this document, the investigations into the European funds related to the Koldo case were initiated only from the news published about the contracts awarded by the Canary Islands Health Service and the Balearic Islands Health Service. The European body denounces that the chief prosecutor of Anticorruption, Alejandro Luzón, did not inform about the suspicions of irregularities in these contracts nor provided any of the reports drawn up by the Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard.
The decree of the European Prosecutor’s Office
According to the decree of the European Prosecutor’s Office, until the time of its issuance on March 4, there was no knowledge of the alleged irregularities related to the European funds of the Koldo case. This knowledge was only acquired from the news published about the contracts awarded by the Canary Islands Health Service and the Balearic Islands Health Service. These news appeared after the operation ordered by the judge of the National Court, Ismael Moreno, which led to the arrests of the main suspects, among them Koldo García, former advisor to the former minister José Luis Ábalos (https://www .softcatala.org/resum-de-textos-en-catala/).
The lack of information from the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office
The European Prosecutor’s Office complains that the lack of information provided by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office forced the European body to carry out an initial analysis without having all the necessary information. In the document issued, it is regretted that the chief anti-corruption prosecutor did not refer to the suspected irregularities in the contracts or accompany the reports drawn up by the UCO of the Civil Guard.
The response of the European Prosecutor’s Office
The European Prosecutor’s Office asked the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office for all available information to determine whether it had jurisdiction to investigate suspected public contracts. However, the lack of response from the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office forced the European body to repeat its request on December 21, 2023. It was not until January 12, 2024 that the European Prosecutor’s Office received a document with information about the facts investigated, although this document did not refer to the specific crimes or the contracts in question. This information led to the opening of a research procedure by the European Prosecutor’s Office (https://www.softcatala.org/resum-de-textos-en-catala/).
The accusations against Koldo García
Based on the information provided by the General Directorate of European Funds of the Ministry of Finance and Civil Service, the European Prosecutor’s Office detected that one of the contracts investigated had been financed with European funds. This resulted in the filing of a complaint by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office on September 8, 2023. The charges brought include crimes of criminal organization, money laundering, bribery and influence peddling. The Koldo case was assigned to the Central Court of Inquiry number 2 and Judge Ismael Moreno is in charge of the investigation (https://www.softcatala.org/resum-de-textos-en-catala/).