The judge in the 'barracks case', which investigates alleged irregularities in the awarding of works in several command posts, including Santa Cruz de Tenerife, has opened a trial against Civil Guard Lieutenant General Pedro Vázquez Jarava and businessman Ángel Ramón Tejera de León, known as 'Mon', for alleged bribery. In a ruling obtained by EFE, the head of Investigating Court Number 3 of Madrid has opened a trial, which will be held before a jury at the Provincial Court of Madrid on a date to be determined, against the two investigated parties who remained in the case, finding sufficient evidence that Jarava may have facilitated the awarding of works to the businessman in exchange for gifts such as trips or money. Last January, the magistrate dismissed this process for Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Alonso Rodríguez, former head of the Ávila Command, and businessman Salvador Gutiérrez Espinosa, as none of the accusations ultimately imputed them. She also confirmed the dismissal of the investigations regarding the two individuals who declared as investigated before the Civil Guard's Internal Affairs Unit. Now the judge has opened a trial against the two investigated parties who remained for alleged bribery; in the case of the former, now retired, Civil Guard commander, in his capacity as a public official between October 2015 and January 2018. In those almost two and a half years in which Jarava was Deputy Director General of Support of the armed institute, he signed 120 invoices in favor of 'Mon's' companies - whose name appeared in the wiretaps of the Mediator case - for a total of 2,151,104 euros. These conditioning or renovation works were carried out in barracks in A Coruña, Albacete, Algeciras, Alicante, Ávila, Badajoz, Castellón, Huelva, Jaén, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Valladolid, and Murcia, the judge details. In total, in the period between 2008 and 2021, different territorial units of the Civil Guard awarded 218 works contracts to companies managed by Ramón Tejera de León for a total amount of 3,450,340 euros, the ruling specifies, which imputes to the two defendants the events that occurred between October 2015 and January 2018. During this period, the then Deputy Director General of Support of the armed institute had the power to decentralize credit to cover expenses and needs of the peripheral organization of the Civil Guard - which includes the different zones and command posts - and "taking advantage of this circumstance" he made available to several command posts different amounts of credit for them to pay for works. "In parallel, Vázquez Jarava informed the heads of the peripheral bodies of the name of Ángel Ramón Tejera de León, with whom he maintained a friendship, providing his data and that of his companies (...), explaining that he marketed a novel product intended to prevent humidity," the ruling adds. The judge explains that furthermore, in the years 2016 and 2017, several trips and accommodations for the lieutenant general and his family are recorded, as well as some improvements to his family home, which were allegedly paid for by the investigated businessman. The fractional deposit of several sums totaling 45,700 euros into Jarava's bank accounts in November 2016, linked to the purchase of a property in Cádiz, is also recorded. The origin of this money "has not been proven" but coincides with withdrawals from the businessman's accounts, the ruling explains. The magistrate details a dozen payments from the businessman to the Civil Guard officer, such as the purchase of several plane tickets to attend the 2016 Champions League final in Milan, for a total of 1,970 euros, and to the final of the same tournament the following year for 1,410 euros, as well as several stays in the Canary Islands and the purchase of a cover for 1,650 euros for the swimming pool at Jarava's home. The magistrate does not accept the arguments put forward by the defenses of the investigated parties, which are consistent with each other and deny irregularities
