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And the case of the financing of Podemos exploded. A Madrid judge has charged Podemos as a legal entity and several members of its leadership, including some of Pablo Iglesias's closest collaborators, in a case that investigates alleged accounting irregularities and the existence of a box B in the formation for, among other destinations, distribute bonuses among their leaders.

Unlike on other occasions, the case arises from the heart of the party itself as a result of a complaint filed by the person in charge of the Podemos legal team, José Manuel Calvente , who was fired when, as he has publicly stated, he was investigating all this . He ratified his version before the judge on July 29, in three and a half hours of declaration.

In the former lawyer's complaint, the purple formation is accused of embezzlement and unfair administration, among other possible crimes, and it is stated that part of the money could be channeled through contracts with a company called Neurona , with which the party worked in the April 2019 general election campaign.

For all these reasons, the head of the Court of Instruction number 42 of Madrid, Juan José Escalonilla , has cited as accused some of the most responsible for those contracts. One is Juanma del Olmo , one of the people closest to Iglesias, and the Secretary of Communication for Podemos.

Juan Carlos Monedero, one of the founders of Podemos.JAVI MARTÍNEZ

Del Olmo also holds the position of Director of Communication and Strategy in the Second Vice Presidency of the Government. The judge wants to question him about his role as responsible for the campaign and, therefore, as a connoisseur of the execution and the veracity of the contracts with Neurona.

Judge Escalonilla also charges the treasurer, Daniel de Frutos , and the manager, Rocío Esther Val , for hearing his explanation about those contracts and, likewise, for possible irregularities in the award and financing of the works in the new national headquarters of Podemos in Madrid, on Francisco Villaespesa street. The architect, Manuel Campos García , is going to take a statement for being another possible source of diversion of funds.

The three prominent members of the Podemos organization chart - others cannot be summoned because they are measured - must go to court to testify on November 20 as investigated.

Until then, the judge is given time to undertake an exhaustive collection of documentation. In a car to which EL MUNDO has had access, Escalonilla claims that the Judicial Police require extensive information about payments or movements in the accounts that have to do with Neurona, the company on which the main suspicions fall as a mechanism to divert money.

The manager of Podemos, Rocío Val.EL MUNDO

This company does not appear for the first time now. In addition to being key in Calvente's complaint, the Court of Auditors recently pointed it out in a report on the accounts of the April 2019 electoral campaign. The supervisory body warned of irregularities worth 400,000 euros and pointed out the insufficient explanations given by Podemos .

Now the judge, in addition to asking the court for these data, demands that the Judicial Police collect more information about Neurona and its main responsible parties. For that, it seeks ramifications of the case in Brazil and in the role that Juan Carlos Monedero has been able to play, linked to this company with Chavista ties. And it is that Calvente pointed out the founder of Podemos before the judge as a person who "took commissions from Neurona" through "simulated contracts." Hence, to begin with, it is ordered to collect information from all commercial companies in which Monedero appears among the administrators.

The treasurer of Podemos, Daniel de Frutos.THE WORLD

Regarding Brazil, the judge asks if five of the workers hired from that country "entered the national territory," just as he wants to know who registered with Social Security. Given that a substantial part of the money paid to Neurona Comunidad SL ended up abroad, the judge cites the administrator, Elías Castejón , and the signatory of the contract, Eduardo López , as defendants , and orders the examination of the bank accounts.

Podemos denied any irregularity on Tuesday and asked to annul Calvente's statement before the judge and the charges. He alleges that he has only received 40 minutes of the three and a half hours that he testified.

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