Martha Belver

Vicente Coll Madrid

Madrid

Updated Thursday, February 29, 2024-18:04

  • 'Koldo Case' The Civil Guard hunted down Ábalos as an "intermediary" in the plot just a month ago

  • Summary The investigation affirms that Koldo maintained "influence" with at least five charges of Óscar Puente

The dinner that, according to reports from the

Central Operational Unit

(UCO) of the Civil Guard, José Luis Ábalos and Koldo García attended on January 10, was a chance meeting, according to the former Minister of Transport.

In an interview on the program

Everything is a Lie

, on Cuatro, the Valencian politician stated that, despite the fact that there are 14,900 restaurants in Madrid, he met his former advisor in a private room in

La Chalana

on the same day and at the same time without having agreed to do so. previously and that they did not talk "about anything important.

In the summary of the

Delorme operation

, which EL MUNDO has published exclusively, the elite unit of the Armed Institute points out that said meeting would respond to the Balearic Islands' claim for 2.6 million euros of the 3.7 million that the Government Francina Armengol paid in 2020 to the alleged scheme to collect million-dollar commissions for the purchase of medical supplies during the pandemic in exchange for 1.4 million masks that she never used due to lack of quality.

García wanted to discuss the matter with Ábalos after having maintained contacts with

Juan Carlos Cueto

, the owner of the company Soluciones de Gestión.

Among the various insinuations launched by the former minister in the aforementioned interview is one that affects the content of his phone: when asked about the date of the last exchange of messages with Koldo García, Ábalos went off on a tangent and hinted that he had deleted his conversations with his former advisor.

"I have deleted it, but I have not emptied anything. It is not the same," explained the deputy now integrated into the Mixed Group to try to justify his decision to delete telephone messages without ending up with possible evidence that a court may request. in the future.

"Let's leave something for Justice," said the former secretary of the Socialist Organization to settle the matter.

"I have not profited, I live day to day"

Ábalos already distanced himself this Wednesday, during an interview on Onda Cero, from his contact with Koldo García, considered one of the masterminds of the plot, despite having been his right-hand man for several years.

In fact, he ruled out having spoken with him in recent days under the pretext that García may not even have had his phone working since he was arrested more than a week ago.

A distancing that in any case contrasts with the information published this Thursday by EL MUNDO, which reveals how the Civil Guard recorded a meeting between the two just a month ago in a central Madrid restaurant.

"I trust the investigators. I have not profited anything," remarked Ábalos, who has stated that he is "worse" financially than before occupying a government position.

"I have less than before I was a minister."

"I live from day to day," he said, like so many other Spaniards.

The parliamentary week has ended without Ábalos taking his new seat in Congress, located in the Mixed Group.

Despite his new independent status, the former minister has ruled out that he is going to vote against the initiatives proposed by his former party and has stressed that he will maintain his voting discipline despite no longer belonging to this party. parliamentary group.

"I presented myself with that program and I am going to defend it 100%. And other things that were not in the program," he stated, in clear reference to the amnesty law that the Government negotiates with the Catalan independence movement in exchange for its support in the low camera.