The prosecutor asks to take BBVA to trial for the assignments to Villarejo | Economy | EUROtoday

Prosecutor Alejandro Cabaleiro asks that BBVA, below investigation for bribery and revelation of secrets and techniques, be left one step away from the dock for espionage assignments to businessmen, politicians and journalists from retired Police Commissioner José Manuel Villarejo, in accordance with a doc to which this newspaper has had entry, superior by the company Bloomberg. With the investigation of the case virtually accomplished, the potential prosecution coincides with the hostile takeover that the entity chaired by Carlos Torres has launched on Banco Sabadell.

The prosecutor asks the pinnacle of the Central Court of Instruction quantity 6, Manuel García Castellón, to start the subsequent part of the process, which started on the finish of 2018, and to suggest making an attempt BBVA for the crimes of bribery and revelation of secrets and techniques. The prosecutor makes the identical request for the previous president, Francisco González and different former administrators of the financial institution similar to Ángel Cano, Antonio Béjar or Julio Corrochano, amongst others, in addition to Villarejo himself.

In the order, of greater than 200 pages and dated May 17, Cabaleiro critiques the contracts between BBVA and Cenyt, Villarejo's firm, for 13 years. The prosecutor considers that the investigation carried out by Judge García Castellón has “clearly and indisputably” proven that the standards to start the oral trial towards the authorized entity are met. The doc emphasizes that “a large part of the defense in this procedure has been directed at trying to establish that no one at BBVA with relevance for the purposes of these considerations knew that the real owner of the Cenyt Group was José Manuel Villarejo Pérez, thereby trying to establish a 'firewall' between the hiring and that person, as a public official.”

Although Carlos Torres is not charged in the case, the prosecutor points to the existence of emails to “inquire into the personal matters of his acquaintances.” This, according to the prosecutor's opinion, shows that “direct obedience” to the dictates of senior administration and the existence of behaviors “contrary to the ethical code” have been applied at BBVA.

The prosecutor's move is the last link in a long process that investigates the links between the entity and the retired police officer. The judge of the National Court investigating the private businesses of the retired commissioner, Manuel García Castellón, concluded the investigation that focused on the bank at the end of January, although he has not yet announced whether he sees signs of crimes sufficient to bring the suspect closer. oral trial to the entity chaired by Carlos Torres. The prosecutor, according to that document, does appreciate them.

The expected date for García Castellón to leave the Central Court of Instruction number 6 is October of this year, at which time he will turn 72 years old. The Organic Law of the Judiciary (LOPJ) establishes the forced retirement of judges and magistrates at the age of 70, although the retirement can be extended for another two years. And that was what the judge of the National Court did, with the approval of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), which did not see any formal defect in his request.

At the beginning of the month of May, as published Five days, the judge was waiting to finish the investigation to complete the investigations into the forensic report that the entity carried out after the outbreak of the case. According to legal sources close to the procedure, the head of the Central Court of Instruction number 6, Manuel García Castellón, will not announce his decision on the judicial future of those investigated – among which is the entity as a legal entity – until he receives the conclusions of the expert reports requested by Del Rivero and others harmed by Villarejo's actions.

This calendar impacts BBVA's own roadmap for the coming months. The bank, after having attempted a friendly merger for the second time in almost four years, launched a hostile takeover bid at the beginning of last month to take over Banco Sabadell. The offer, at a rate of 4.83 securities from the Catalan bank for each one from the Madrid bank, is considered insufficient by the board of directors of the Vallesan entity, which has rejected it. Now it will be the shareholders who will have to decide whether to go to the takeover bid, which must have authorization from the European Central Bank (ECB), the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) and the National Securities Markets Commission ( CNMV).

BBVA expects this assault on Sabadell to end in six or eight months. For the moment, it has called its shareholders to an extraordinary general meeting on July 5, in which they must give the green light to the transaction, which involves increasing capital by up to 20% to attend to this share exchange. And before that, he hopes that the CNMV will admit the takeover bid, after having sent all the documentation to the stock market regulator last week.

Follow all the information Economy y Business in Facebook y Xor in our publication semanal