Lawyer José Aníbal Álvarez, the first defender of José Luis Ábalos in the 'Koldo case', declared this Monday as a witness before the National Court judge Santiago Pedraz within the framework of the so-called 'Leire case'. According to legal sources informed Europa Press, during his appearance he assured that Leire Díez offered to pay his fees through a company, an option he rejected because he wanted the payment to be made directly by the former minister.
In his statement, the relationship between Leire Díez and Francisco Martínez, former Secretary of State for Security and investigated in 'Operation Kitchen', also came to light. Álvarez acknowledged that he was the one who facilitated two meetings between them, although he explained that his intervention responded solely to Martínez's request to get a second opinion on his defense. According to him, this advice was not remunerated.
The messages incorporated into the investigation
The Civil Guard has incorporated into the procedure several conversations held between Álvarez and Leire Díez at the end of 2024. Investigators interpret these exchanges as an attempt to find a formula to make the payment of the lawyer's fees effective.
Among the analyzed messages is a proposal to make the payment through a law firm or a "company," a possibility that Álvarez rejected. According to the UCO report, the former socialist militant asked the lawyer if he had "any trusted law firm through which the payment could be made," to which the lawyer replied that "that was not what was discussed. In these matters there is no trust," and "thank you, but this is not acceptable."
A new day in the Leire case
This Monday's statement is part of the series of proceedings initiated by Pedraz to reconstruct the functioning of the alleged plot under investigation. In the coming days, other protagonists of the procedure are expected to appear, including Leticia de la Hoz, Koldo García's lawyer, who will declare as an investigated party, as well as several officials linked to the Civil Guard and the State Attorney General's Office. The judge is investigating Leticia for an alleged attempt to influence the testimony of businesswoman Carmen Pano, after, according to the investigation, she had offered her various economic considerations so that she would not ratify before justice her statements about the alleged delivery of 90,000 euros at the PSOE headquarters, on Ferraz street.
After that appearance, the magistrate has summoned several investigated individuals for Thursday, including the director general of the Civil Guard, Mercedes González, and the deputy operational director of the corps, Manuel Llamas, within a key week for the progress of the investigation of the so-called 'Leire case'.
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