The European Prosecutor's Office calls for the investigation of the whole 'Koldo case' | Spain | EUROtoday

The European Public Prosecutor's Office has come to the conclusion that it’s its duty to research all Koldo case, each the components that concern the ramifications within the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands and those who have an effect on the central Government, that are investigated within the National Court. For this motive, this Thursday he despatched a letter to court docket quantity two of this court docket, to Ismael Moreno, demanding the information within the abstract, in line with judicial sources informing EL PAÍS.

The prosecutors depending on the group establishment had lengthy requested a report from the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard to take this step. That doc has already arrived on the group establishment and, with it on the desk, they’ve determined to ask the decide within the case on the Court to recuse himself of their favor. The European Public Prosecutor's Office confirms that, in actuality, it’s a single plot that operated in numerous components and that, due to this fact, it’s logical that it’s in command of the whole investigation, since in some information it impacts cash from the funds of the EU.

Since the European Public Prosecutor's Office was launched three years in the past, when a case of corruption seems, funds from the Union funds are affected, and it’s competent to hold out the investigation. In it Koldo case, not less than within the awarding of contracts within the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, there are EU sources and, due to this fact, it has been in command of these components of the investigation for months. He now asks for the remainder after finding out the knowledge despatched to him by the Civil Guard as a result of he understands that it’s a single plot and that the case should be unified for the good thing about the investigation.

Almost from the start, the European Public Prosecutor's Office has been near the Koldo case. It acquired a primary criticism on June 30, 2022, at which period it started to gather info to search out out if group funds have been affected. One yr later, in April 2023, they requested Anti-Corruption for information on the reported contracts. The reply got here two months later, in June, with details about the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands.

There have been extra requests for info, particularly in October 2023, however at the moment the investigation was already judicialized and abstract secrecy decreed, so Judge Ismael Moreno didn’t ship extra information. It was not till the case exploded and have become the topic of media consideration, already in January and February of this yr, that the European Public Prosecutor's Office had entry to extra documentation. Subsequently, the request got here to the UCO for the report that gave rise to this Thursday's declare.

The public ministry, which relies in Luxembourg, has already investigated instances of alleged fraud associated to public contracts signed through the pandemic every so often. The most placing of them was the one which affected the brother of the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, which lastly ended up archived. That case brought about a loud conflict between European prosecutors and Anti-Corruption. The two our bodies needed to take cost of the case and eventually the choice that was made was Solomonic. In each instances the investigations ended up being archived.

Now, if the decide of the National Court doesn’t recuse himself and agrees to the declare of the European Prosecutor's Office, the choice won’t be within the fingers of the State Attorney General's Office. As the case is judicialized, it is going to be a court docket that should determine which physique is competent to proceed the investigation. This will keep away from, in precept, one of many issues that Luxembourg often denounces about its work in Spain: within the occasion of a battle of powers, the State Attorney General's Office decides, which is decide and occasion, since it’s hierarchically in command of Anti-Corruption, with whom European prosecutors usually have these conflicts.

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