The European Public Prosecutor's Office against Fraud considered this Thursday that it is competent to take over the Koldo case, in which the National Court has so far investigated the awarding of a series of mask contracts to a company during the pandemic and in which one of the main defendants is Koldo García, former advisor to former minister José Luis Ábalos.
After requesting information from the judge upon verifying that one of these contracts was co-financed with European funds, the European Public Prosecutor's Office against Fraud (EPPO) made the decision this Thursday to take charge of the judicial investigation that the National Court had been carrying out until now.
The EPPO, which had already taken over the investigation of the awards from the governments of the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands to that same company, intends to "jointly investigate all the contracts awarded by the different Public Administrations to the same company in a short period of time", as reported in a statement.
What happens now?
Legal sources informed EFE in Madrid that now the judge of the National Court, Ismael Moreno, will request a report from the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, which was in charge of the investigation with him until now.
After receiving this report, which is not binding, if the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office opposes the European Prosecutor's Office's claim, the magistrate may raise a question of competence before the Supreme Court, which is the one that will decide who gets the case, as dictated by the rule that regulates the European Prosecutor's Office in Spain.
The European Prosecutor's Office regulation establishes that when it exercises its right of referral over a case, "the competent authorities of the Member States will transfer the file to it and will refrain from carrying out new acts of investigation in relation to the same crime", other sources specified.
If the EPPO finally keeps the investigation, the National Court that was directing it until now will leave it completely in its hands, since, unlike the Spanish model - in which the investigations are directed by a judge - in the European model the Prosecutor's Office assumes it completely.
Unifying causes
The European Prosecutor's Office in Madrid initiated an investigation on March 4 into a possible fraud affecting public contracts awarded by the health authorities of the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands to the company Soluciones de Gestión for the purchase of medical equipment, including protective masks, during the pandemic, according to the EPPO.
Upon verifying that the National Court directed by Ismael Moreno was investigating contracts to this same company and given that one of them was co-financed with European funds, the European Prosecutor's Office requested additional information to see if it would exercise its right of referral.
The EPPO's decision comes at a time when Judge Ismael Moreno has on his desk a report from the Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard that points out that former minister Ábalos was aware of the investigated contracts and the company on which the case pivots, from his former advisor Koldo García.
And that also highlights the role played by several senior officials of the current Government, which led the judge to request yesterday from the Ministry of Transport the emails of two of them: the current undersecretary of this department, Jesús Manuel Gómez, and also Javier Sánchez Fría, current general director of Budgets of the Ministry of Finance and then general director of Organization and Inspection of the ministry directed by José Luis Ábalos.
In its statement, the EPPO clarified that this "exceptional update" of the information is due to the "very high public interest aroused by this investigation", although it specified that "no further details will be made public at this stage."
Based in Luxembourg, the European Public Prosecutor's Office against Fraud is responsible for investigating, prosecuting and judging crimes that affect the financial interests of the EU.
Whenever there is a suspicion that the EU budget has been defrauded or is being defrauded, whether in terms of revenue or expenditure, national authorities, as well as all EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, have a legal obligation to report it to the European Prosecutor's Office without delay.
EU citizens can also report a crime directly to the European Prosecutor's Office.
