The businessman Víctor de Aldama, one of the alleged ringleaders of the Koldo case plot, has caused a real revolution in the summary. After months of silence, the former president of Zamora CF, who is in preventive detention for his alleged involvement in another criminal network, asked Judge Ismael Moreno to now testify voluntarily and this Thursday he deployed a battery of accusations against the Government. Aldama has said that he gave 250,000 euros to José Luis Ábalos, former Minister of Transport, and 100,000 euros to his advisor Koldo García for the mask purchase and sale operations during the worst of the pandemic. He also added that Pedro Sánchez, President of the Executive, asked to meet him. Later, shortly after having concluded, he asked for his release for having begun to collaborate with justice.
During his appearance this Thursday at the National Court, according to several sources present at the interrogation, Aldama stated that Ábalos and his collaborator shared the money he gave them. Always according to his version, the businessman periodically delivered cash to Koldo García. And on some occasion he witnessed how the advisor gave it to his boss, something they did so that he could see that the money reached the Secretary of Organization of the PSOE. As he later calculated, throughout their relationship, he would have given another 400,00 euros to the former minister and another 200,000 euros to García, without counting other gifts (payment for houses and vehicles, among others).
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The former president of Zamora has also pointed out the president of the Government. He has assured that the socialist leader asked to meet him to thank him in person for some efforts that Aldama made in Mexico, according to several sources present in the statement – which began at 10:00 -. The businessman has stated that this meeting took place in 2019 in La Latina (Madrid), during a PSOE event to present Pepu Hernández as a candidate for Mayor of the capital. That moment, as he has stated, was reflected in a photograph that they both took in a booth and that El Mundo published a few weeks ago. In fact, along these lines, the accused has stressed that they made him go to that event because “the president wanted to talk to him,” since he is not a member or sympathizer of the party. In his words, the Chief Executive thanked him for what he was doing and added: “They have informed me.”
“Sánchez is the one who sends Koldo to the Ministry of Transportation,” the businessman stressed, according to these sources. According to the investigation, the plot headed by the former president of Zamora CF nested in the Ministry of Transport during the time of José Luis Ábalos, where they allegedly used the former Secretary of Organization of the PSOE and his advisor, Koldo García, to obtain public contracts and extend its tentacles to other Administrations. Aldama has told the judge that Koldo García told him that, when Sánchez arrived at Lo Moncloa, he believed that he was going to remain assigned to the Presidency, but that he finally sent him to Transport.
Aldama has testified that Koldo García asked him for money for other people: 25,000 euros for Minister María Jesús Montero’s chief of staff, Carlos Moreno; 50,000 euros for Víctor Ángel Torres, current minister and former president of the Canary Islands; and 15,000 euros for Santos Cerdán, current Secretary of Organization of the PSOE. Legal sources explain that the businessman has guaranteed that Cerdán was given an envelope with the money in a bar, with Aldama present, for an issue related to a tender for a construction company.
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This Thursday’s appearance occurs nine months after the outbreak of the scandal, when the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard arrested the main people involved. At that moment, Aldama chose to remain silent and, when the agents made him available to the judge, he decided not to answer any questions. In those intense days, little had emerged from the alleged corrupt network to public opinion, but his figure was already emerging as a key piece. In fact, of all those arrested, Judge Moreno imposed the harshest precautionary measures on him and Koldo García: he withdrew his passport, prohibited him from leaving the country and forced him to appear in court every 15 days – although he left him in freedom-.
Aldama then chose to remain silent for months. Unlike Koldo García and José Luis Ábalos (indicted this November by the Supreme Court), who began to offer explanations in the press and in the legislative chambers, the businessman avoided it categorically. When he was called to the open investigation commission in the Balearic Parliament, the former president of Zamora CF repeated the phrase “I am not going to testify” 39 times.
However, everything changed a few weeks ago. The Civil Guard arrested Aldama again for his involvement in another alleged criminal plot, dedicated to hydrocarbon fraud. Judge Pedraz, who is leading these investigations, ordered his imprisonment due to risk of escape, which was later confirmed by the Criminal Chamber by concluding that a part of the money supposedly defrauded (almost 74 million euros) “could have been transferred to accounts abroad”. That circumstance blew up the strategy of the businessman, who has decided to speak after months of silence in the case opened by the Koldo case – for the moment, he remains without testifying in the investigation into hydrocarbons. And this Friday, just a few hours after concluding his statement before Judge Ismael Moreno for the Koldo case, Aldama’s defense has asked the other instructor, Santiago Pedraz, to release him because he has already begun to collaborate with justice.
The journey of Delcy Rodríguez
During his statement this Thursday, Aldama referred to the landing of Delcy Rodríguez, vice president of Venezuela, in Barajas on the night of January 19 to 20, 2020, despite the fact that she was prohibited from entering the European Union. The businessman has stated before the judge that the Government knew about the arrival of the Bolivarian leader through Sánchez himself, Ábalos and the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska. According to the defendant, Ábalos was aware that Rodríguez could not access community territory, but he said that nothing was happening.
Delving into this topic, the former president of Zamora explained that the trip was organized a month before the vice president’s arrival and that he was in charge of renting the house where she was going to stay. What’s more, Aldama has specified that he had organized a dinner where Rodríguez, President Sánchez and several ministers were going to meet: among them, Marlaska, Salvador Illa, María Jesús Montero, Teresa Ribera and Ábalos. As he highlighted, Koldo García “managed” all of this with the ministers and chiefs of staff. Their meeting plan also included, according to their words, a meeting with the State Attorney General: at that time, María José Segarra was in office—Dolores Delgado assumed it in February.
According to several legal sources, Aldama has added that, a few hours before the Venezuelan president arrived, Koldo García called him to call Delcy Rodríguez and tell her not to land, because she was going to be arrested. Then a serious mess arose that caused, according to his version, Sánchez to ask Ábalos to go to Barajas to fix it. According to what he said, he and Ábalos got on the plane; and the vice president told them that, if she was detained, there would be “problems.” On this topic, the businessman commented that the Bolivarian expedition did not carry suitcases with gold: “The plane would fall due to the weight.”
Throughout the more than two hours of interrogation, Aldama has shot many ministers. He mentioned that he met with Nadia Calviño, former vice president of the Executive and current president of the European Investment Bank, for the rescue of Air Europa. And that he met many times with Teresa Ribera, recently appointed vice president of the European Commission, to address questions about the emptied Spain: “She knew perfectly well who I was,” he expressed, before emphasizing that Begoña Gómez, wife of Pedro Sánchez, He went to one of those appointments.
**How might the Koldo Case revelations regarding alleged bribery and government influence impact public trust in Spain’s democratic institutions, and what are the potential long-term consequences for political stability?**
## Interview with World Today News: The Koldo Case Revelations
**Welcome to World Today News. We’re joined today by two esteemed experts to discuss the explosive revelations emerging from the Koldo case, specifically the bombshell testimony of businessman Víctor de Aldama.**
**Our guests are [Guest 1 Name and Affiliation], a renowned expert in Spanish politics and corruption, and [Guest 2 Name and Affiliation], a legal scholar specializing in financial crimes and government accountability.**
**Section 1: The Accusations**
**Host:** Mr. Aldama’s testimony paints a scathing picture of alleged bribery and political influence. He claims to have provided hundreds of thousands of euros to former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos and his advisor Koldo García, with payments allegedly making their way to President Sánchez himself. What are your initial reactions to these accusations, and how credible do you find Mr. Aldama’s claims?
**Guest 1:**
**Guest 2:**
**Host:**
Mr. Aldama’s testimony also mentions payments to other prominent figures, including current ministers. How significant are these allegations, and what potential legal and political ramifications could they have?
**Guest 1:**
**Guest 2:**
**Section 2: The Government’s Role**
**Host:**
Mr. Aldama explicitly alleges that President Sánchez was aware of and even facilitated these dealings. How does this testimony impact public perception of the government’s integrity, and what are the potential consequences for the socialist party?
**Guest 1:**
**Guest 2:**
**Host:**
The testimony also mentions the government’s alleged involvement in facilitating the arrival of Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez to Spain, despite her EU travel ban. Could this incident further fuel accusations of government impropriety and erode trust in its commitment to the rule of law?
**Guest 1:**
**Guest 2:**
**Section 3: Motivation and Implications**
**Host:**
Mr. Aldama’s sudden change of heart, after months of silence, coincides with his own detention for separate charges related to hydrocarbon fraud. Does this suggest a potential motive for his testimony, and how might it influence the validity of his claims in the eyes of the public and the courts?
**Guest 1:**
**Guest 2:**
**Host:**
Regardless of Mr. Aldama’s motivations, his testimony raises profound questions about the extent of corruption within Spain’s political system. What broader implications does this case have for Spanish democracy and its institutions?
**Guest 1:**
**Guest 2:**
**Host:**
We thank our guests for their insightful perspectives on this complex and developing story. The Koldo case continues to unfold, and we look forward to seeing how these allegations will be investigated and addressed by the Spanish authorities.
**We encourage our viewers to stay informed, critically assess the information presented, and engage in thoughtful discussions about the critical issues this case raises for the future of Spanish democracy.**
