Margarita Robles authorizes the promotion of Antonio Balas to colonel and allows him to continue in the UCO during the investigation of the Cerdán case

The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, signed on September 1 the order by which Civil Guard Antonio Balas is promoted to colonel. The agent, who until now has directed the Anti-Corruption Department of the UCO, will be able to continue leading the investigation related to the Koldo or Cerdán case, despite the fact that his promotion implies a change of assignment.

Robles' decision responds to the request made by both the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and Judge Ismael Moreno, who requested that Balas remain in charge of the investigations for the time necessary to advance the investigation. To make this possible, the Ministry of Defense has established a service commission.

According to the order published in the Official Gazette of Defense, Balas will continue in the UCO until the circumstances justifying the commission disappear, the successful bidder for the position takes office, he obtains another assignment, or the maximum foreseen period is reached.

Prosecutor Luis Pastor argued in his report that Balas is one of the instructors of the unit in charge of investigating the Koldo case and has played a relevant role in the development of the proceedings. For this reason, he requested that he remain in the Economic and Anti-Corruption Crime Department of the UCO until the conclusion of the investigation.

The director of the Civil Guard, Mercedes González, had signed Balas' promotion at the end of June. However, due to the dual nature of the Civil Guard and its organic dependence on the Ministry of Defense, it was up to the head of the department to finally formalize the promotion.

The investigator of cases linked to the PSOE

Antonio Balas has been linked to the Criminal Investigation Department II of the UCO for nearly two decades, a career that has led him to participate in corruption investigations related to leaders and officials from different political parties.

His actions in some of these cases have also generated public criticism. These include certain errors in the investigations of the Ábalos case, as well as some of the conclusions contained in police reports that have subsequently acquired political and media relevance.

Balas also played a prominent role during the trial of the State Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, where he defended the relevance of the Public Prosecutor's Office in the investigation of the leak for which he was convicted. During the hearing, he acknowledged that the agents had ruled out investigating other possible sources of said leak.

He also intervened in the trial related to Pedro Sánchez's brother, David Sánchez, where he admitted that he did not know several of the accused who were not David Sánchez himself and the then leader of the Extremaduran socialists, Miguel Ángel Gallardo.