The National Court has decided not to include as investigated the former Minister of Transport José Luis Ábalos and his former advisor Koldo García in what is known as the “hydrocarbons case”. In a ruling signed last March 18, magistrate Santiago Pedraz rejects the request of the popular accusations to broaden the focus of the investigation towards both.
The judge bases his decision on the criterion of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, which considers it inappropriate to open a new parallel line of investigation. According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, the facts attributed to Ábalos and García are already being analyzed in the Supreme Court, where both face an ongoing judicial procedure since March 11.
The popular accusations, however, had requested his indictment for his alleged involvement in crimes of criminal organization, influence peddling and bribery. To support this request, they provided a report from the Central Operative Unit (UCO), as well as the statements of the businesswoman Carmen Pano, also investigated in the case.
Pano assured the judge he had delivered 90,000 euros in cash at the headquarters of the PSOE on Ferraz street in Madrid, in bags with cash. These statements have been one of the most controversial elements of the case, although for the moment they have not been sufficient for Judge Pedraz to expand the investigation to new individuals involved in this procedure.
The "hydrocarbons case" investigates an alleged millionaire fraud in the VAT of the energy sector between 2021 and 2024. Among the main investigated figures the businessman Víctor de Aldama, pointed out as a key intermediary in the plot and also charged in the case that is being followed in the Supreme Court.
