The magistrate of the National Court who is instructing the 'hydrocarbons case', Santiago Pedraz, has summoned Cristian Corvillo to testify this Thursday, whom the PP identifies as the former chauffeur of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to clarify his alleged connection with the investigated plot.
In a ruling accessed by Europa Press, Pedraz sets Corvillo's appearance for 10:15 AM, as well as that of his brother Rubén, within the proceedings regarding the alleged fraud of more than 200 million euros in VAT on hydrocarbons that would have been committed between 2021 and 2024. Among those charged in this case are, among others, the businessmen Claudio Rivas and Víctor de Aldama.
The judge has specified that the interrogation will be "delimited" to the "main object" of the procedure, that is, "the fraud against the Public Treasury and consequent money laundering committed by the Villafuel company," owned by Rivas and with which Aldama is related, a fixer in the 'mask case' sentenced to four years in prison by the Supreme Court.
Last December, businessman José Fernández Rosado, also under investigation, stated that Corvillo proposed to act as a frontman for Espaeventos, one of the companies under suspicion, in exchange for a financial compensation that he ultimately would not have received.
Additionally, Corvillo was summoned last year by the PP to the Senate's investigative commission on the 'Koldo case', where he stated that he does not know "the exact position" attributed to him by the investigators within the alleged corruption network and refused to answer any questions posed.
The role of the Corvillo brothers in the case
The organization Hazte Oír, which exercises popular accusation in the 'hydrocarbons case', requested Pedraz to call the two brothers to testify, understanding that they were "direct witnesses presumably of various facts" subject to the investigation.
In its writing, the popular accusation emphasized that "both brothers joined, through the mediation of Corvillo Energy --a company represented by Rubén Corvillo--, the shareholding of the 'holding' companies that, according to Aldama's own confession recorded in telephone interceptions, managed the entirety of the assets presumably derived from the fraud."
For this reason, Hazte Oír considers that the two "can provide direct information about the configuration and direction of the organization," and argues that the companies linked to the Corvillo "received million-dollar payments from the intermediary companies that allegedly participated in the VAT fraud," so they "allegedly know the origin and traceability of such payments."
In relation to Cristian Corvillo, the organization claims that he "maintained constant communication" with Aldama and that he "is mentioned" in reports from the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard as "a receiver of cash amounts under the key designation of 'deeds'." It also adds that he participated "in the operation to acquire the property in La Alcaidesa (Cádiz) intended" for former Minister of Transport José Luis Ábalos, one of the aspects analyzed in the 'mask case.'
Regarding Rubén Corvillo, partner and sole administrator of Corvillo Energy, Hazte Oír argues that he "must necessarily know the origin of the funds with which the purchase of the mortgage debt of Pilot Real Estate --a company managed by Aldama-- was undertaken and the subsequent execution of the property in Sotogrande," as well as "the precise circumstances of the cross-invoicing with Salamanca Fuel Center," one of the companies that allegedly pretended to buy hydrocarbons from Villafuel.
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office supported the practice of these testimonies but demanded that they be limited to clarifying the possible relationship of the Corvillo brothers with the operation under investigation for alleged fraud and with the implicated companies, excluding any issues related to the 'Koldo case.'
The alleged plot and its scope in the Administration
In a report included in the summary, the UCO states that the hydrocarbon network not only would have managed to infiltrate the top of the Ministry of Transport when it was headed by Ábalos, but also those of Industry, Trade and Tourism and of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, then led by Reyes Maroto and Teresa Ribera.
According to that document, the penetration in those departments would have been articulated through Aldama, "a person with access to the environment" of Ábalos, with the aim of "influencing the administrative resolution by which Villafuel would be granted the authorization to operate in the wholesale market of hydrocarbons, despite the non-compliance with the legally required requirements" and "all this in exchange for an economic compensation."
The investigators point to Aldama and Rivas as alleged leaders of the network, noting that they "held the decision, control, and coordination of both structures."
According to the UCO, the alleged network would have constituted "a criminal organization specialized in the commission of crimes against the Public Treasury in the strategic sector of hydrocarbons, which operated through a corporate structure headed by the operator Villafuel and others linked to the sector."
"In parallel, this criminal organization had another structure made up of companies aimed at perfecting operations oriented towards the laundering of capital from the illicit activities described," adds the report.
The agents place the start of the criminal maneuvers in 2020, when from the "environment of the alleged criminal organization" a request would have been made to Aldama "to activate his network of contacts and intercede to mediate, mainly with members of the Ministry of Transport," in order for Villafuel to obtain the operator's license.
The UCO maintains that the plot would have disbursed around one million euros to try to influence the businessman, former minister Ábalos, and his former advisor Koldo García, both sentenced by the Supreme Court in the 'mask case' to 24 and 19 years in prison, respectively.