The 'Montoro case' will continue to be investigated in Tarragona despite the former minister's attempt to transfer it to Madrid

The 'Montoro case' will remain, for now, in the Investigating Court number 2 of Tarragona. The Provincial Court has rejected resolving, through the path proposed by the defenses, the request to transfer the investigation to Madrid. The decision allows judge Rubén Rus to continue with the proceedings regarding the alleged tax favors granted to companies that hired Equipo Económico, the firm founded by the former Minister of Finance.

The Court has not determined which city should host the case. The magistrates consider that a dispute of competence between bodies in Tarragona and Madrid corresponds to the Supreme Court. There is also an pending appeal against the decision with which Rus defended in April that his court could maintain the investigation. While that question is cleared up, the procedure remains in his hands.

Montoro and other investigated parties maintain that the examined facts are located in Madrid, where the Ministry of Finance and the headquarters of Equipo Económico are. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office opposes the transfer. It recalls that the investigations began from documentation related to the gas company Messer, located in the province of Tarragona, and points out that part of the investigated actions would also affect Catalan administrations.

Eight years of investigations into payments to Montoro's firm

The case was opened in 2018 and remained under secrecy for seven years. The judge is investigating whether companies in the industrial gas sector paid Equipo Económico to obtain tax changes favorable to their interests during the governments of Mariano Rajoy. Among the reforms examined are modifications to the Special Tax on Electricity and the Tax on Economic Activities. The judicial suspicion is that the firm charged for its access to Treasury officials, beyond the advisory services it could provide.

Investigators are now trying to reconstruct the journey of that money. The court has requested information on Montoro's bank movements since 2006 and on accounts linked to former partners and family members. It has also commissioned the Mossos d'Esquadra to examine payments made to the firm, including hundreds of checks, to clarify who finally received the income.

Rus extended the instruction in July due to pending reports and statements. Montoro had not yet testified when that extension was agreed upon. The case examines possible crimes of bribery, fraud against the Administration, prevarication, influence peddling, prohibited negotiations, corruption in business, and document forgery; none of them have been proven.

The former minister rejects the suspicions and maintains that he disassociated himself from Equipo Económico before returning to the Government. His defenses dispute both the evidence and the jurisdiction of the Tarragona court. Rus will be able to continue carrying out proceedings while these appeals are processed and the Mossos complete the analysis of the banking documentation.