Spain: investigation opened for suspicion of corruption at the height of the Covid pandemic
A parliamentary commission will investigate the purchase of masks during the Covid-19 pandemic within Spanish public administrations, while the socialist government is entangled in a vast affair of illegal commissions which affects former ministers and the President of Parliament .
The European Union prosecutor's office announced on March 4 the opening of an investigation to verify whether there was misappropriation of European funds when purchasing defective masks.
Spaniards walking in the streets of Madrid, their faces masked, May 26, 2020. AP - Manu Fernandez
By: RFI Follow
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With our correspondent in Madrid
,
Diane Cambon
“Zero tolerance for corruption”, the slogan of the socialist government, has been put to the test in recent days in
Spain
.
The President of the Chamber of Deputies, Francina Armengol, denied any involvement in the affair of illegal commissions on the purchase of masks at the worst moment of the covid-19 pandemic.
Read alsoSpain: Francina Armengol, President of the Assembly, first battle won for Pedro Sanchez
The elected socialist, close to the president of the government of
Pedro Sanchez
, was at the time president of the Balearic archipelago, a region which purchased fraudulent masks for an amount of 3.7 million euros from an inexperienced company .
This was recommended by Koldo Garcia, a handyman close to the former Minister of Transport, José Luis Abalos.
Koldo Garcia, who illegally enriched himself by obtaining contracts worth 53 million euros in exchange for supplying masks to public administrations, was indicted.
But the affair now known as the “Koldo scandal” could affect other figures in political life.
The director of ports, Alvaro Sanchez Manzanares, has just resigned.
He would have ordered eight million masks for 20 million euros from the company recommended by Koldo Garcia.
The right in opposition is enjoying this scandal, demanding the resignation of the President of Parliament and accusing Pedro Sanchez of having covered up the former Minister of Transport, without however providing proof.
Also read Controversy in Madrid: two men get rich on the back of the health crisis
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