The magistrate of the Audiencia Nacional (AN) Santiago Pedraz, in charge of the investigation into an alleged fraud in the hydrocarbon sector in which businessman Víctor de Aldama, considered the alleged fixer of the 'Koldo case', is implicated, has decided to extend the investigation period by another six months, now setting its completion in December 2026.
This is stated in a ruling issued this Monday, to which Europa Press has had access, in which the head of the Central Court of Instruction of Plaza de la Villa de París n.º 5 accepts the Prosecutor's Office's request and extends the deadlines with the aim of completing "several investigative actions". The progress of these actions could lead to new decisions and "even new imputations" within the so-called 'hydrocarbon case', focused on Villafuel, the company owned by Claudio Rivas.
Pedraz recalls that "given the nature of the facts and crimes being investigated, numerous actions have been carried out", among which he highlights the searches carried out in different homes and registered offices in October and December 2024. After those entries and searches, the judge ordered the provisional imprisonment of Aldama, who was released a month later after offering his collaboration in the 'Koldo case'.
The investigating judge specifies that "numerous documents" were "seized" in said searches, which are still "pending examination and reporting by the police unit in charge of the investigations".
In addition, the judge details that European investigation orders have been issued to Portugal and that the documentation obtained in that framework is also pending study.
It is worth remembering that the AN judge himself already decided last December to extend the investigation until June of this year, pending the analysis of "numerous" documents related to the alleged fraud. The Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Guardia Civil estimates the damage at 231.7 million euros and places the operation between 2021 and 2024.
The scheme of the alleged hydrocarbon fraud
In one of the reports incorporated into the proceedings, the UCO details the basic functioning of this type of fraud, specifying that the starting point is the criminal organization taking control of a wholesale operator of petroleum products.
As explained, this operator goes to the fiscal deposits—where the fuel is stored—to acquire the product, paying only the special taxes at that time, but not the VAT. According to the regulations, the operator must pay the VAT to the Public Treasury once they have charged it, that is, after collecting it from the service stations that buy the fuel with the added VAT.
On this basis, the fraud would essentially consist of failing to pay the charged VAT, that is, the VAT that the gas stations—as retailers—pay to the operator. Since the latter barely bears deductible VAT, the amounts it should declare are close to the entirety of what it has charged. However, they are not paid into the Treasury.
Although this would be the basic scheme of the alleged fraud, the UCO warns that, due to pressure from the courts and security forces, criminal organizations have been sophisticating their structure and operations, incorporating new interposed companies into the network.
The purpose of these maneuvers is to "perfect the veil of those who truly control the criminal organization" and "safeguard hydrocarbon operators from possible disqualifications," given that obtaining operator status is complex, according to the report.