Koldo García, former advisor to José Luis Ábalos, has submitted his defense to the Supreme Court, flatly denying his involvement in the corruption plot over masks contracts during the pandemic. He seeks acquittal and contradicts the account of businessman Víctor de Aldama, who has admitted the crimes. García also criticizes the current Transport Ministry's audit and denounces procedural irregularities.
Koldo García, in provisional prison since November, has delivered a 132-page document to the Supreme Court rejecting 'rotundly and in depth' the narrative of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, which seeks 19 and a half years in prison for criminal organization, bribery, and influence peddling. The defense, led by Leticia de la Hoz, argues that García acted as a 'logistical facilitator' in a health emergency situation, without the ability to alter contracting decisions or receive illegal commissions. His income, it claims, has a lawful and traceable origin.
García attacks Víctor de Aldama, labeling him a 'procedural platypus' for acting as an accuser despite being charged. Aldama, who has confessed the crimes and seeks a sentence reduction for collaboration, alleges splitting 50% of the commissions with Ábalos and García. The latter's defense dismisses these accusations as 'speculative fabrication' without evidence, violating the presumption of innocence, and requests that Aldama testify first under cross-examination.
Among the denounced irregularities is the lack of access to García's seized phone devices by the Guardia Civil's UCO, preventing contextualization of messages used against him. It also criticizes the audit commissioned by current minister Óscar Puente, which pointed to irregularities in emergency contracts, as an 'ad hoc' assignment with an incriminating bias. This report, it argues, contradicts the Court of Auditors, which validated the urgent processing, and deliberately hid key data on masks needs.
The defense calls for witnesses including Salvador Illa, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, Francina Armengol, and Isabel Pardo de Vera. It further claims that matters like the Air Europa bailout or Jessica Rodríguez's hiring were not in the original congressional suplicatorio, requiring new parliamentary authorization to avoid nullities.
