Editor’s Note
This article details a new development in the ongoing Villafuel case, where the company has requested testimonies from former high-ranking political aides. The request is part of a broader investigation into alleged large-scale fraud in Spain’s energy sector.
Villafuel, the company at the epicenter of an alleged corruption scheme involving a multi-million euro fraud in the hydrocarbons sector, has requested that Judge Santiago Pedraz summon as witnesses Marc Pons – former chief of staff to ex-Minister for Ecological Transition Teresa Ribera – and Juan Ignacio Díaz Bidart – former chief of staff to ex-Minister of Industry Reyes Maroto – among others.
The company, accused of a VAT fraud exceeding 200 million euros, wants both to clarify whether they played any decisive role in granting the operator license obtained by the company of Claudio Rivas and Víctor de Aldama.
Precisely the latter, as part of his cooperation with the Justice, revealed that Koldo García mediated so that Rivas himself and others involved in the events could meet with Bidart at the Ministry to expedite the process.
It should be recalled that Aldama admitted – as attested by the Civil Guard – that he paid 10,000 euros per month to the former advisor of José Luis Ábalos to facilitate actions within the Administration, one of which was the granting of Villafuel’s license. However, the company has now requested the investigating judge to summon them as witnesses, along with two technicians hired by Villafuel for the “drafting, supervision, and submission of the project” to operate as an operator.
In its brief, accessed by LA RAZÓN, the company argues that the request to summon Pons is justified because he was part of the team of the current Vice President of the European Commission and, therefore,
Regarding Bidart, who has already testified as a witness in the Koldo case at the Supreme Court, the company contends he should clarify whether there was
they allege.
It should be recalled that Hazte Oír, which holds the legal representation of the private accusations in the proceedings, had already requested Pons’s testimony to clarify whether, as Aldama claims, there were unofficial efforts to expedite the granting of the license, thanks to which Villafuel allegedly committed the multi-million euro fraud attributed to it by both the Civil Guard’s Central Operative Unit (UCO) and the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
In Pons’s case, there are also WhatsApp messages allegedly intercepted from Koldo that would confirm a conversation between the two related to procedures concerning Villafuel. In this regard, messages seized from Aldama and Ábalos’s advisor are also relevant. From these, it appears that, initially, the Ministry of Industry rejected their application, as evidenced in messages exchanged on December 9, 2021.
Rivas told Aldama.
In the following days, Rivas informed the businessman that they were going to request an
implying they had a direct line to the Administration. During the subsequent months, Villafuel submitted all necessary documents and, finally, in September 2022, was granted the license. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office stated in the complaint filed with the National Court that Ribera’s Ministry would have given the green light despite the company not meeting all necessary requirements. Furthermore, it said the Government’s endorsement was what allowed Villafuel to advance its fraudulent activities.
Regarding the meeting that took place at the end of 2020 at the Ministry of Industry, its existence has not only been confirmed by Aldama. Bidart himself ended up acknowledging before the Supreme Court that this meeting took place at the Ministry of Industry during the height of the pandemic, aimed at expediting procedures for Villafuel. Also participating in the meeting was Carmen Pano, the businesswoman who claims she took 90,000 euros in bags to Ferraz. Pano also confirmed the existence of said meeting.
Meanwhile, the investigating judge has extended the case for another six months, with the favorable opinion of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. Pedraz argues that several pending investigative steps remain. These include the reception of several reports from the Civil Guard on searches conducted after the case broke out in October of last year, and the analysis of the telephone terminals seized from Pano, Rivas, and Aldama, among others.