• Courts The European Public Prosecutor's Office investigates whether there was a crime in Iván Redondo's announcement about the distribution of EU funds

At the end of September 2020, the then former chief of staff of Pedro Sánchez was in La Moncloa Iván Redondo had a telephone meeting with some 60 Catalan businessmen from the Foment del Treball employers' association, including its president Josep Sánchez Llibre.

Among them was the former head of Convergència David Madí, since he is a businessman, and who is being investigated in the 'Voloh case' for allegedly organizing the 'general staff' of the independence protests after the Supreme Court ruling for sedition as well as the financing of Carles Puigdemont in Belgium.

At this meeting, Redondo reported on the Government's measures for economic recovery after the coronavirus pandemic as well as the "July European Council agreement on the European funds program".

Days after the meeting, David Madí spoke with a director of the consulting firm RSM Spain in which he referred to that meeting as a business opportunity to advise companies interested in receiving aid from European funds in exchange for a commission.

This conversation was captured by the investigators of the 'Voloh case' and in it Madí explains that "I think the business is in a discreet fee to help them present projects" and adds that "what you have to do is establish a channel to enter just in case... I... I saw myself with... in Foment... I am part of Foment".

Here he recounted the details of his meeting with Sánchez's former chief of staff: "We had a meeting, in a small committee, with Iván Redondo, okay? And he explained it to us there... That will be a black tea party... approaches are 140,000 million euros".

The Investigating Court number 1 of Barcelona considered that there could be the alleged crimes of diversion of public funds and money laundering after listening to the conversation and for this reason it was sent to the European Public Prosecutor's Office, a decision endorsed by the Barcelona Court.

After opening an investigation a few weeks ago, the European Public Prosecutor's Office has summoned Madí and the executive to testify as defendants for next July.

As this medium learned, it is intended to investigate whether there is a possible "crime of subsidy fraud provided for and punished in article 308 of the Penal Code, since the information received showed that the conversation between David Madí" and his interlocutor "in which mentions that the amount that was going to be distributed was one hundred and forty billion, and that it could be referring to the European funds for recovery, Next Generation EU, approved by the European Council on June 21, 2020 ".

When the Foment meeting was held, the amount of European aid that would go to Spain was unknown, according to the researchers.

In its order rejecting Madí's appeal, the Barcelona Court considers that there may be "the alleged commission of illicit acts related to political-economic corruption, that is, among others, and more specifically of alleged subsidy fraud, in the that David Madí would participate along with others investigated".

In this sense, they believe that the former CDC official "could agree with his interlocutor to obtain European subsidies with fraudulent intent."

He now has to investigate the European Public Prosecutor's Office.

Conforms to The Trust Project criteria

Know more

  • Ivan Round

  • CDC

  • Barcelona

  • Coronavirus

  • Belgium

  • Carles Puigdemont

  • Pedro Sanchez