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The Prosecutor's Office asks for more time for a former PP mayor to provide alleged evidence against Aguirre

2022-07-06T03:47:29.913Z


The public ministry requests that the deadline be extended for Guillermo Ortega to prepare a report on his time at a former company in the Community of Madrid


On the left, Guillermo Ortega, former mayor of Majadahonda, at the National High Court, in 2018. EUROPA PRESS (Europa Press)

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office presented a brief at the National Court where it asks for more time so that Guillermo Ortega, former mayor of the PP in Majadahonda, can review the files he keeps and present the alleged evidence that, according to what he stated, would splash Esperanza Aguirre, former president of the Community of Madrid and imputed by the

Punica case

.

The public ministry has made a move like this and has appealed the decision of the investigating judge Manuel García-Castellón, who has already finished the term for the former popular councilor to deliver the report that he promised and the papers that support his words.

This issue has become one of the last open battles in the so-called Separate Piece 9 of

the Púnica case

, the line of investigation focused on the alleged irregular financing of the Madrid PP during the Aguirre stage.

Ortega, who is currently in prison convicted of the

Gürtel case

, said in 2020 that the former regional president placed him at the head of the public company Mercado Puerta de Toledo, from where he diverted more than one million euros to pay electoral campaign expenses.

In addition, the former mayor provided a series of invoices to support his accusations, adding that, to provide more evidence, he needed access to his personal computer and the accounting of the company he headed.

But, as Ortega explains in a letter sent last week to the National High Court, since then he has faced numerous difficulties in preparing his report.

As he says, in addition to the "huge" amount of documents to study and the limited hours he had to use the prison's computers, he added that the personal laptop where he kept the files could not be made available to him until this May.

First, according to him, because the prison did not allow his lawyer to give him the computer.

And then, once it was authorized, because the machine wouldn't turn on due to the time it had been “idle”, and he had to take a computer technician.

Meanwhile, the judge ran out of patience and, through a resolution issued on June 22, decreed that the deadline for submitting that report had expired.

The magistrate had already received the alleged revelations of the former mayor with misgivings and, as he stated in an order, his "personal circumstances" must be taken into account when "assessing the credibility" of his testimony.

Also, he added that "you can not make the momentum of the process depend on the will of the complainant."

For this reason, although he has kept the deadline for Ortega to deliver his report open until June, García-Castellón closed the rest of the investigation into Piece 9 in January. They have been going on for more than five years, and the Criminal Chamber has already pressured him on one occasion to finish them.

However, the Prosecutor's Office considers that the former mayor of Majadahonda should be given more time to present the alleged evidence.

According to the appeal from the Public Prosecutor's Office, dated June 23 and to which EL PAÍS had access, "these have been causes beyond Guillermo Ortega's own will that have prevented this person from being able to fulfill the instructor's mandate within the prescribed period. ”.

The PSOE, appearing as a popular accusation, also requested to expand the margin for the councilor to provide his report: "The speed that is wanted to be given to the process just in the final stretch is not understood," he criticized.

These movements are not trivial.

This line of investigation of

the Punica case

is at a key moment.

Once the judge has terminated the investigation, the Prosecutor's Office must now present its final report on the case, where it will have to ask if it asks to prosecute the former Madrid president.

Based on this, the magistrate will decide.

But this option, according to legal sources, is difficult, since none of Aguirre's subordinates pointed it out during the investigation with solid enough evidence to send her to the bench.

For its part, politics has struck back.

Last Friday, his defense sent a letter to the judge where he attacks Ortega and his revelations.

"Sentenced to more than 30 years in prison, he undoubtedly wants to use his offer of evidence to negotiate prison improvements," says the document signed by the lawyer of the former popular leader, who also charges against the socialists.

Aguirre accuses the PSOE of "bluntly exploiting" its role as a popular accusation to delay this judicial procedure and thus obtain "political profit."

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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-07-06

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