Interpol has arrested in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) the businessman Alejandro Hamlyn, responsible for the Hafesa group, whose firm was found guilty in a procedure for hydrocarbon fraud in the National Court, a hearing he did not attend as he was on the run. Hamlyn also has ties to the former PSOE militant Leire Díez, considered a central figure in an alleged network aimed at deactivating legal cases that could harm socialist leaders and the Executive.
According to "The Objective" and confirmed to Europa Press by police sources, the arrest took place this Monday and the extradition proceedings have already been initiated, a process that could take several months.
In parallel, judicial sources have explained to Europa Press that there was an extradition request against the businessman filed by the Fourth Section of the National Court in the context of the hydrocarbon case, after he failed to appear at the trial, leaving that request pending until his arrest occurred.
The name of Hamlyn came to light after audio recordings of a videoconference meeting were made public in which the businessman participated from Dubai (United Arab Emirates) alongside Leire Díez, in which the former militant spoke about gathering evidence against the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard and prosecutor José Grinda.
In that telematic meeting, the Basque businessman expressed his willingness to provide compromising information against the UCO and, in return, Díez mentioned possible favors in the judicial sphere, according to the recordings released. However, both later denied those claims.
The audios of that meeting gave rise to the first piece of the "Leire Díez case" in the courts of Plaza de Castilla (Madrid), where Judge Arturo Zamarriego charged the former militant, businessman Javier Pérez Dolset, and journalist Pere Rusiñol as alleged responsible for crimes of bribery and influence peddling.
This investigation was recently sent to National Court Judge Santiago Pedraz, who incorporated this line related to alleged maneuvers against the UCO, judges, and prosecutors into the proceedings regarding the supposed plot aimed at neutralizing judicial procedures that would affect the PSOE and the Government, as well as the alleged rigging in contracts of the State Society of Industrial Participations (SEPI).
On the other hand, the National Court imposed last November a fine on the company Hafesa Energía and prison sentences to 14 people for a tax fraud in the VAT of hydrocarbons for 154 million euros between 2016 and 2019.