The Koldo Case (Spanish: Caso Koldo) or Ábalos Case (Caso Ábalos), is an ongoing corruption prosecution conducted by the Spanish Supreme Court that began on 28 February 2024. The case is centred around former Transport MinisterJosé Luis Ábalos and his former advisor Koldo García Izaguirre. The case involves several political figures, primarily allies of President Pedro Sánchez, and pertains to the purchase of masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]
Spain was one of the countries seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a significant impact on the economy and Spanish society.[2]
Following a referral by the Partido Popular mayor of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, in April 2022 the Prosecution Ministry opened an investigation into Soluciones de Gestión y Apoyo a Empresas (SGAE), a business support firm, over six suspicious public contracts awarded to it for the sale of health equipment in the COVID-19 pandemic, which were not subject to the usual bidding process out of urgent need.
21 March 2020: The Public Organisation for State Ports - a subsidiary of the Transport Ministry - purchases 8 million masks for €24.2 million.
27 March 2020: Adif - another subsidiary of the Transport Ministry - purchases 5 million masks for €12.5 million.
20 April 2020: The State Security Secretary - under the Ministry of the Interior - purchases health equipment for €3.5 million.
SGAE invoiced the government for €54 million in at least eight public health contracts throughout the pandemic, netting a profit of €17 million through three departments and two PSOE-controlled regional governments.[3] It was alleged that using SGAE led to a sophisticated network of companies based in Luxembourg and Brazil, through the latter's accounts with the bank Itaú Unibanco. Through this, it was alleged that it would become difficult to trace the money back.[4]
Even in 2020, the lawyer Ramiro Grau Morancho had warned Sánchez's government that using SGAE as the sole supplier of health equipment to Spain was questionable, given that they had no prior experience in such departments. He also referred the case to the Attorney General and Supreme Court, which dismissed his concerns.[5]
Investigation
Operación Delorme
On 6 September 2023, the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office filed charges to the Audiencia Nacional against seven public figures, including Koldo García Izaguirre, the former advisor to Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos. The judge Ismael Moreno Chamarro agreed to take on the case.
Arrests
On 21 February 2024, the Guardia Civil arrested 20 people including Koldo García and his wife Patricia Úriz, on suspicion of misusing his relationships with Ábalos and other key government figures to obtain public contracts for SGAE, and taking commission on it. The Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office also noted that he had almost quadrupled his net worth, particularly in the period 2020-2022, through questionable real estate acquisitions, such as three flats in Benidorm, worth €1.5 million. García was alleged to have used third parties, such as close family members, to hide the source of his newfound wealth.[3][6]
Regarding the other eighteen arrested, fourteen were released the same day, while the other four were released the day after. García's brother, Joseba, was one of those arrested, and the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office had suspected that his brother's actions had given him 27 times his net worth.[7] He was released the next day.
On 26 February 2024, Spanish judge Moreno Chamarro ordered that a copy of the case from the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office be sent to the EPPO, along with a report into the awarding of contracts to SGAE, after the order of secrecy around the investigation was lifted.[8][9][10]
On 4 March 2024, the EPPO announced that it would investigate the Canaries and Balearic governments' purchase of masks, and Audiencia Nacional judge Manuel García-Castellón agreed to hear the case. While García-Castellón would ultimately judge the case, European prosecutors rather than Spanish ones would lead the investigation. On 14 March 2024, Johannes Hahn, the European Commissioner for Budget and Administration, promised that the scrutiny would be rigorous to protect the integrity of member states' contributions and Monika Hohlmeier asked the Spanish government to collaborate fully with the European investigation.[11] During this time, the new PP government in the Balearic Islands let the claim against the purchase of defective masks during the pandemic expire.[12]
On 9 and 10 April 2024, the EPPO seized a series of documents relating to the purchase of SGAE's masks, confirming that the Balearic government spent €3.7 million and the Canaries €12 million. Overall, European investigators suspected illegalities in €32 million worth of mask purchases. An advance of €2 million was paid to a company with no prior experience in health equipment for a million masks which never came.[13] The Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office later advised European investigators to narrow the investigation solely to contracts which affected European payments, rather than all of SGAE's contracts.
Case returned to Audiencia Nacional
On 26 June 2024, the Supreme Court handed the case to the Audiencia Nacional, refusing to hear it as EU financial interests were not directly affected.
On 8 October 2024, the Central Operative Unit of the Guardia Civil handed a report to judges suggesting that former minister José Luis Ábalos had a large role in the case. Ábalos had received various property gifts, such as a chalet, from Victor de Aldama, the head of SGAE. The Central Operative Unit suggested the relationship between Ábalos and De Aldama went far beyond the contracts handed out in the pandemic, alleging De Aldama leveraged his position to support the Spanish government's bailout of airline Air Europa for €475 million in 2020. The report also touched on the Delcygate scandal in 2020, where Venezuelan vice-president Delcy Rodríguez met Ábalos and De Aldama in Madrid despite both knowing that the former was banned from the Schengen Area under sanctions against Nicolás Maduro's government. The report revealed that Pedro Sánchez did know about the visit, contrary to his statements at the time.[14] On 23 October 2024, the Supreme Court ordered Ábalos' indictment due to his status as a person of interest.[15] De Aldama was in prison for other fraud charges relating to having defrauded the Spanish Treasury hundreds of millions through his sale of gasoline.[16]
On 21 November 2024, De Aldama agreed to testify voluntarily to Moreno. De Aldama said that he had given bribes to PSOE organisation secretary Santos Cerdán (€15,000), then-Finance MinisterMaría Jesús Montero (€25,000), to Koldo García (€200,000) and to Ábalos (€400,000).[17] De Aldama also alleged that Sánchez himself had asked around to get to know him better, and had invited him to a meeting to thank him for his assistance.[18] He said he also met minister Teresa Ribera and Begoña Gómez, Sánchez's wife. He also said that he took part in Delcy Rodríguez's visit, organising a dinner and inviting several ministers as well as Sánchez himself.[19] That same day judge Santiago Pedraz tentatively released De Aldama for his co-operation in the investigation.
