Latest victim of the Koldo case: a key leadership figure in Spain's public port operator who had connections with the Koldo face-mask case. Álvaro Sánchez Manzanares, general secretary of Puertos del Estado, which operates 28 ports around Spain, was at the head of the body during the pandemic when eight million masks were acquired for 20 million euros. Specifically, the masks were bought from Soluciones de Gestión, a company recommended by Koldo García, former advisor to the former Socialist (PSOE) transport minister José Luis Ábalos. This Tuesday, current Spanish transport minister Óscar Puente has dismissed Sánchez, a move that seems to respond to the minister's lack of confidence in the general secretary of the public company after learning more details about the alleged corruption plot.
The Koldo case is convulsing the PSOE, since several active figures in key positions in the administration are being splashed. One is Francina Armengol, current speaker of Congress, who has been the target of many accusations related to the case from her period when she was head of the Balearic Islands government. This Tuesday, she appeared before the media and said: "I will not let them smear my name, nor that of my government, nor that of the people who gave their all to save the citizens."
🔍 Koldo case: who is who in the face mask plot?
Role of Puertos del Estado in the Koldo case
Puertos del Estado is the public company that manages all Spanish public ports for goods and passengers, and, reporting directly to the transport ministry, was the first to come into contact with the face-mask plot due to its need to obtain masks as the Covid pandemic broke out. The dismissal of Álvaro Sánchez Manzanares is the first in the ministry since the Koldo case broke out almost two weeks ago, since many of those responsible for contracts are no longer active as a result of management turnover in recent years, with three different ministers in charge: José Luis Ábalos, Raquel Sánchez and now, Óscar Puente.
Contradictions in the versions
The Spanish tax agency warned in a report about the contradictions in the versions between the version given by Puertos del Estado and that given by Soluciones de Gestión - the company at the epicentre of the plot. While Puertos denies knowing the alleged commission agent of the plot, Víctor de Aldama, the company provides evidence that it did hold a meeting with the public body. The contradiction is evident in the report that the Spanish Treasury sent last February 2nd to the investigating judge of the case at the National Audience, Ismael Moreno. In the report it is pointed out that during January 2021, Soluciones de Gestión provided "in an orderly manner and for each intermediary and purchase operation, items of evidence in the form of WhatsApp screenshots and emails" which seeemed to demonstrate De Aldama's relationships "with a large part of the mask intermediaries" and evidence of relationships with "some of the institutional clients".
The report details that despite the evidence provided by Soluciones de Gestión, a company controlled by Juan Carlos Cueto - under investigation as the alleged mastermind of the plot - the representatives of Puertos del Estado, and other clients, denied any relationship with De Aldama. "On the part of the public clients, the participation of Mr De Aldama is denied in an completely general way," it states. As well, the Treasury contrasts the end clients' version of the masks with that described by Soluciones de Gestión in relation to Puertos del Estado, for example. Thus, Puertos del Estado asserts that "the emergency contracting carried out followed exceptional circumstances caused by the international pandemic that causes the outbreak of the Covid epidemic and the declaration of a state of alarm by Royal Decree 463/2020, of March 14th".
Armengol counterattacks over Koldo : "I won't let them smear my name"
"I will not let them smear my name, nor that of my government, nor that of the people who gave their all to save people". Francina Armengol went on the attack this Tuesday after the accusations alleging links between the Balearic government that she presided over and the Koldo case. The current speaker of the Congress of Deputies maintains that all the contracts of that time were "legal, rigorous and at the discretion of the technicians" and accuses the People's Party (PP) - who took over the government of the Balearic Islands last May - of having "crossed all the red lines" and of seeking to "muddy everything". "Those who appear in the summary are those who they are, neither I nor anyone from my government is under investigation or appears in the summary. My government, in any case, could be a victim, never an accomplice or collaborator", she proclaimed in a half-hour appearance from the Congress of Deputies this Tuesday.
Her team explained on Monday that the purchase of masks from the company involved in the Koldo case was made by a "reliable" and "credible" recommendation from the ministry of transport, although it has not yet been clarified how this proposal came about. Armengol reports that, in a context with a "huge material shortage" and where "everyone was competing to try to buy medical equipment", "all members of the government" received "names of companies from different places" (for example, from businesspeople, those who had contacts, administrations, ministries and councils) where they could buy and, "obviously", they thought that "everyone wanted to help so that people were protected". And what was done? All the names were sent to the Balearic Islands Health Service, and it was that body which "contacted them, analyzed what they offered and decided technically".
"No one gave us any orders, pressured or coerced us, nor did they tell us to give up claiming the money from the company," said Armengol. "Nobody is nobody. I governed the Balearic Islands for eight years and I have never in my life given any instructions to anyone to hire one company or another, I am not one of those people”.