The former PSOE leader between June 2017 and October 2021, Mariano Moreno Pavón, denied before the Supreme Court any irregularity in the party’s payments to politicians such as former PSOE minister José Luis Ábalos and explained that “a security company” transferred the cash from the bank to the box at the Ferraz headquarters, but that they “never” asked for “500 euros because they are not useful for a box of these characteristics”. In his statement as part of the The Koldo caserecorded on video on October 29, Judge Leopoldo Puente was skeptical and said he didn’t see “the advantage” of bringing cash to the register “instead” of making payments “by bank transfer”. “It doesn’t seem like a very effective control,” he said.
The Supreme Court then forwarded to the National Court all the documentation on this specific aspect of the investigation, the cash payments from the PSOE to former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos and former councilor Koldo García, so that magistrate Ismael Moreno, who is in charge of the majority of this proceeding (which has nothing directly to do with the defendants) can investigate whether any irregularity has occurred. Among the material received by the judge are the statements made in the high court by Moreno; by party employee Celia Rodríguez; and by the businesswoman Carmen Pano, who assured without evidence that she went to Ferraz twice in October 2020 to deliver 90 thousand euros.
In the videos to which EL PAÍS had access, the doubts expressed by the judge regarding Moreno’s affair are evident. “It shocks me especially because this time period, of course, includes the year 2020, which was the toughest period of the pandemic and you will remember that people had some reluctance to have cash,” the magistrate said. “However, that does not appear to be the case in your headquarters.”
Moreno agreed in his statement with what Rodríguez, an employee of the PSOE, had said a few minutes earlier and explained in detail how the Organization’s Secretariat team presented the expenses so that certain checks were carried out by the party before proceeding with the payment. They looked at the CIF or date of the tickets, but instructor Puente did not find the check very comprehensive.
Judge: Has anyone verified that those tickets were paid for by that person?
Dark: This was not proven at the time.
Judge: Would it then be possible for someone to collect restaurant tickets that their relatives could have paid for and donate?
Dark: I do not know.
Judge: I mean, based on the verification method you followed, would it be possible?
Dark: Rule it out 100%… It seems strange to me that this could happen.
The former PSOE leader explained step by step that the limit for this type of payment was 1,000 euros and that control mechanisms had been implemented, especially after the Court of Auditors’ recommendation to avoid the use of cash. An internal technical brief was prepared to track these expenses, and since 2020, “cash flow has decreased significantly,” he explained. Judge Puente spent part of the interrogation trying to clarify what type of checks were carried out by the management.
Judge: So the Administration check that Mrs. Rodríguez told us will last two or three days, excuse me for asking so bluntly, what did it consist of? If you don’t check on the tickets who did the shopping, not with which method, or anything else. Just put the CIF and similar… What verification is this?
Dark: The verification is that he is the person who signed the request and who is authorizing those expenses because they fall within the activity he carries out. This was the key one.
Judge: Forgive me, Don Mariano, but this is not a test. If José Luis Ábalos, as Secretary of the Organization, claimed some sums and you tell me that the control was what Ábalos demanded… This is not a control.
Dark: It wasn’t just this Secretariat. They were all secretaries.
Judge: Yes, but compared to this specific case, it does not seem like a very effective control if it is the person who signs the application who authorizes it.
Dark: There was no superior. They were the most responsible in each of the secretariats.
During the shift of the chief anti-corruption prosecutor, Alejandro Luzón, he wanted to know about the 500 euro notes. The Central Operations Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard carried out an asset report on José Luis Ábalos in which it included the possibility that both he and Koldo handled large sums of money which they disguised in the language with words such as “folios”, “letugas” or “chistororras”, the latter referring to the larger banknotes.
“No. We never ask for 500 euros because they are not needed for a box with these characteristics”, replied Moreno. Luzon asked him if he was sure. “I’m very sure of it. Since a 500 euro note is of no use in a box of these characteristics, what it does is reimburse personnel expenses, which are usually small”, remarked the former manager.
Carmen Pano and the delivery of 90,000 euros
Businesswoman Carmen Pano, known for declaring before a notary that she had brought money to the headquarters of the Socialist Party, confirmed this statement before the Supreme Court on February 25. He did so by answering questions from the PP lawyer, who carries out the popular prosecution. “That money was given to me by a person named Lolo,” he said.
According to Pano’s story, the events occurred in October 2020 and two deliveries were made for a total of 90,000 euros. On both occasions it was Commissioner Víctor de Aldama who told him that he had to take the money, but he does not know what the money was or who gave it to in the PSOE building. “I took him in because I was nervous because I don’t like these things,” Puente told Judge.
Two days after the declarations of the former party leader and collaborator of Ferraz, this magistrate sent a letter to the National Court to open a line of investigation. It believed there were “unknowns” that needed to be “resolved” to determine whether there was “irregular, and even potentially criminal” activity in the use of cash in the cash register. Puente warned of the possibility that Koldo and Ábalos could have “laundered” money with compensation for expenses. Now the Court judge has opened a separate piece to investigate this point and is awaiting a report from the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office to take the next steps.
