Anti-Corruption calls for a new trial of the 'Koldo case' in the National Court against 13 people, including Isabel Pardo de Vera, the former partner of Ábalos, Koldo and Aldama

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office has asked the judge of the National Court Ismael Moreno to agree to the holding of a new trial in the masks case that covers what has not already been tried in the Supreme Court. The High Court's conviction is "decisive" in preparing this new request, which in any case does not affect the separate piece referring to bites in public works, which is still in the investigation phase.

The prosecutor in the case proposes putting 13 people on the bench, including the former president of Adif Isabel Pardo de Vera. He attributes the crime of influence peddling to him for connecting José Luis Ábalos' ex-partner in two public companies, at the request of the then minister and his advisor Koldo García. "The indications place Ms. Pardo de Vera in a central place in this episode: she would be the link that converted the Minister's will into real contracts. She would have received the request, she would have assumed it as her own and, taking advantage of the weight of ADIF, she would have transferred it to the companies that contract and pay," says prosecutor Luis Pastor.

A former director of Adif, Ignacio Zaldívar, must accompany Pardo de vera to grease these procedures. The minister's own ex-partner, Jésica Rodríguez, is accused of embezzlement, for having been paid without even going to work.

The facts that the prosecutor asks to bring to trial are very varied. In addition to that plug, payments from the plot headed by businessman Víctor de Aldama to the civil guard Rubén Villalba are addressed. In exchange, he offered secure cell phones, anti-surveillance sweeps and consultations at police bases. The prosecutor puts both of them on the list of those he will accuse, along with three of Aldama's subordinates.

The Ábalos advisor who gave name to the case is wanted to be judged for his efforts before the administrations of the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands to act as Transport and purchase medical supplies from Management Solutions. Crimes of influence peddling and money laundering are attributed to him, the latter due to the unexplained assets that were detected. Koldo García's wife and brother are also accused of criminal activities related to the management of illegal funds.

Management Solutions, as a legal entity, is also on the list indicated by Anti-Corruption to the judge. He is accompanied by the businessman Carlos Cueto, who controlled it de facto, and the manager Íñigo Rotaeche. It will be for a tax crime in the fiscal year 2020.

Regarding another dozen defendants, the Prosecutor's Office does not see sufficient evidence to judge them and requests that they be filed. This benefits Álvaro Sánchez Manzanares, former Secretary General of State Ports. The Prosecutor's Office believes that he limited himself to executing a decision already made to buy masks from Management Solutions. The former senior official of Adif Michaux Miranda is also left out of the prosecutor's brief. Jesús Manuel Gómez, undersecretary in the Ministry of Transportation when the masks were purchased, is also free.

Overall, the prosecutor detects six types of crimes: membership in a criminal organization, bribery, influence peddling, embezzlement, money laundering and tax fraud.

Added to the prosecutor's request are those of the State Attorney's Office and the popular prosecution. Judge Moreno must now issue the order transforming the case into an abbreviated procedure. This is a resolution equivalent to processing and which means terminating the investigation. Next, the accusations will present their briefs specifying what penalties they demand for each of those who have finally entered the order of the investigating judge.