Víctor de Aldama, key businessman in the masks plot, testified on Wednesday in Spain's Supreme Court that the PSOE was illegally financed with cash from construction firms and that Pedro Sánchez knew about it. Ábalos and Koldo García recruited him to collect funds, according to his statement. The testimony is part of the masks case trial but addresses a secret probe at the National Court.
Víctor de Aldama testified in Spain's Supreme Court that José Luis Ábalos and Koldo García recruited him to collect "cash" from construction firms winning public works bids. "Koldo told me: 'We have to see how we can help each other and get a return for the party's financing'", Aldama recounted, presenting himself as a "vehicle for making donations" to the PSOE.
The businessman claimed to have delivered 1.8 million euros in cash to Koldo, who handled "distributing" the money to meet legal requirements. On Pedro Sánchez, Aldama said Koldo assured him: "the president knows everything we do clearly and knows; he was aware of everything". He cited anecdotes of Koldo's casual calls to the president, addressing him as "Pedro".
Aldama detailed regular 10,000-euro payments to Ábalos and Koldo, and larger deliveries, such as a backpack with 250,000 euros to the Ministry of Transport or bags at Ábalos' house in El Viso. Prosecutor Alejandro Luzón questioned him on rigged public works deals and a Castellana apartment as a guarantee for Ábalos. These statements are part of the masks plot trial but refer to a parallel National Court probe into PSOE's irregular financing.
