The retired Civil Guard colonel Diego Pérez de los Cobos has assured during his statement as a witness that he does not remember that the so-called ‘Operation Kitchen’ appeared in the control documents of reserved funds that he handled when he held a key position in the Ministry of Interior. As he explained, the monthly lists included between “one hundred and two hundred operations”, which makes it difficult to identify specific actions.
Pérez de los Cobos appeared in the trial that is being held in the Audiencia Nacional about this alleged parapolice operation, in which it is being investigated if from Interior a device was organized to steal compromising information from the former treasurer of the Partido Popular, Luis Bárcenas, in the context of the investigations into the party's B fund.
During his intervention, the colonel was emphatic in stating that he "never" detected irregularities in the use of reserved funds. He defended that he applied the control mechanisms provided by law and internal orders, insisting that the system is designed to guarantee the confidentiality of this type of expenses.
The witness explained that these funds are not subject to the same level of scrutiny as the rest of public spending, precisely because of their sensitive nature. In the documents that arrived at his department, the concepts appeared generically, such as “payments to collaborators”, without detailing identities or specific operations.
In this regard, he detailed that the same operation could involve dozens of collaborators, but that the information received by the Secretary of State for Security was limited to monthly global figures. This model, as he indicated, makes it difficult to associate specific payments with specific people or specific actions.
Finally, Pérez de los Cobos assured that he never had record of receipts linked to Sergio Ríos, considered a key piece in the case, nor does he remember nominative expenses related to Enrique García Castaño, former head of the Central Operational Support Unit (UCAO), whose case was filed away for medical reasons.
