Agents of the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard have emphatically rejected before the Supreme Court that the content of the electronic devices seized from former advisor Koldo García, including audio files, was altered, and have pointed to former Minister of Transport José Luis Ábalos as a "fundamental" piece in the alleged scheme, clarifying that the businessman Víctor de Aldama was the one who really imposed decisions as he was the one financing the operations.
During their appearances this Monday before the court, the members of the UCO have defended the solidity of their investigations against the doubts raised by the defenses of Ábalos and Koldo in the proceedings regarding the alleged irregularities in the acquisition of masks during the pandemic.
One of those responsible for the research group has remarked that "no manipulation has occurred" and that "in no way" could it have occurred while the tests, obtained from devices such as mobile phones, remained under their control.
Along with another agent, he has insisted that it is "impossible" for the audios of the former advisor to the former minister José Luis Ábalos to have been modified during the analysis, while they have ruled out that remote 'software' was installed that would allow them to be altered remotely.
The investigators have added that on Koldo's devices "many issues" related to Ábalos' personal sphere appeared, including data on his financial situation, so, as they have indicated, "it was not at all striking" to locate that type of information on his terminals.
After these statements, Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Balas, head of the UCO's Economic and Anti-Corruption Investigation Department, has stressed that Aldama referred to Ábalos as "the boss", although he pointed out that the businessman was "really the one in charge".
"He who pays, commands, and it is Aldama in the end. What happens is that within that alleged criminal organization, there are members with greater weight and, in all the actions they attempt or ultimately achieve, Ábalos's role is evidently fundamental. Without him, they could hardly have done any of the ones they undertook," he stated.
Balas has explained that Aldama was the one who assumed the payments and who "demands", citing as an example the "safe-conducts" that he claimed from the Ministry of Transport in the midst of the pandemic for his entourage, to which Koldo initially showed himself "reluctant" but ended up accepting, or the dealings linked to the loan to Air Europa, in which Aldama even "insults" to increase the pressure, he has pointed out.
"And they have not been reluctant at any time, they have never said no, they have not shown reluctance, they have always done what they have been told," added the commander of the investigative unit.