The Gürtel investigator declares before the Kitchen judge: “there was an unauthorized police operation on Bárcenas”

The UDEF inspector Manuel Morocho, main investigator of the Gürtel case, has assured before the National Court tribunal that there was “a police operation without judicial authorization” directed against the former treasurer of the PP Luis Bárcenas and his entourage. His testimony is framed within the trial on the one known as Operation Kitchen.

During his statement, Morocho explained that he became aware of these facts on August 20, 2013, when he received an email in which he was informed of a “transfer of information” coming from the Dirección Adjunta Operativa (DAO) of the Policía Nacional, a body that at that time was headed by Eugenio Pino, also accused in the case.

Upon analyzing the received file, the inspector found data directly related to Bárcenas. “When I see the content and I see the word Bárcenas, for me it was the confirmation of what I already suspected”, he affirmed, detailing that the document included “a series of telephones, related people, vehicles, places and companies”.

Morocho maintained that that information was not related to the investigation of the Gürtel case, in which he was working under secrecy. “I realize that the DAO, which is not an investigative unit, gives me information of which I did not know,” he explained, adding that “that connection between secret investigations has a methodology that has not been fulfilled”.

The inspector also underlined that his unit never requested support from the DAO to investigate Bárcenas. “The DAO does not support, it is a central body of supervision and direction,” he affirmed, making it clear that the described action was not part of the usual procedures nor did it have judicial backing.

In relation to other possible actions, Morocho denied having proposed surveillance of Rosalía Iglesias, wife of the former treasurer. However, he did acknowledge that his superiors urged him to request measures such as the tapping of her phone, something that, he said, “he did not do either verbally or in writing”.