A judge investigates the closest circle of Puigdemont for the diversion of public money to the 'procés'

From left to right, David Madí, Oriol Soler and Xavier Vendrell.

The Civil Guard has launched an operation this Wednesday for the alleged diversion of public funds to the independence movement.

The agents have arrested 21 people and carried out 31 searches in various Catalan towns for crimes of corruption (embezzlement, prevarication, money laundering) and, also, for public disorder.

Among those arrested are businessmen who, allegedly, financed the creation of Tsunami Democràtic, a popular movement to protest the ruling of the

against the independence leaders.

Some of the detainees are people very close to the former president of the Generalitat Carles Puigdemont, who has fled from justice in Belgium.

The investigation also tries to clarify, among other things, how the structure that supports the MEP Puigdemont in his residence in Waterloo is financed.

• The four mysterious companions of Puigdemont

• The 'shadow council' that advises the Catalan president's strategy

• David Madí, the man who always falls on his feet

The detainees, most of them businessmen, are people close to the Esquerra Republicana (ERC) and Junts per Catalunya;

some of them, in fact, had held public office.

The five closest detainees to the former Catalan president are Xavier Vendrell, businessman and former Minister of the Interior with the tripartite;

David Madí, businessman and former campaign manager for Artur Mas;

Oriol Soler, a businessman close to ERC;

Josep Lluís Alay, director of his office as former president;

and Xavier Vinyals, president of the Catalan proSelecciones Deportivas Platform.

Vendrell and Madí were two of the members of what was called the "General Staff" of the

, the group of people in some way linked to the Government of Junts pel Sí that tried to carry out the coordination to be able to execute the referendum of 1- OR.

Its existence sought to create a space that would overcome the misgivings between PDeCAT and ERC.

Vendrell is a member of ERC, where he landed after the dissolution of Terra Lliure, and was Minister of the Interior during the tripartite;

later he moved to the second political line to embark on business activities.

Madí, for his part, had been secretary of communication of the Generalitat with Artur Mas and a man of his utmost confidence.

His role was key in the development of the communication strategy of the illegal referendum.

He has been an advisor or director of important companies such as Telefónica or Endesa.

The service record of the editor Oriol Soler to the sovereign cause is also extensive.

He was a member of the so-called Estado Mayo although he usually preferred to be behind the scenes: he was the coordinator of the campaign for the 9-N consultation and also managed the electoral campaign of the Junts pel Sí coalition in 2015. Soler has worked in the mobilization of the bases of the independence movement.

As for Professor Josep Lluís Alay Rodríguez, he is the head of the Office of the former president of Carles Puigdemont.

The historian was precisely with the former head of the Government when he was arrested on the German border with Denmark.

For this reason he was precisely accused of a cover-up crime.

Others of those investigated are less known.

On the list are Antonio Fuste Piñol and Roc Aguilera Vaques, owners of an events company in Igualada, Events.

The premises, located in an industrial warehouse, had already been inspected by the Civil Guard in September 2017, when they were looking for electoral material for 1-O.

There is also Pilar Contreras Llanas, who since 2018 has been the general director of Centers Concertats and Centers Privats of the Generalitat.

Before that she was the director of the Escola Pia de Vilanova i La Geltrú.

The agents act by order of the head of the court of instruction number 1 of Barcelona, ​​Joaquín Aguirre, who investigates an alleged plot of businessmen who obtained money from Catalan institutions through subsidies and awards.

That money was later channeled to pro-independence purposes, according to sources in the investigation.

In addition to the Belgian structure of Puigdemont, it is investigated how the Tsunami Democràtic campaign was financed, a movement in response to the sentence against the

leaders

.

The expenses related to the

and the 1-O referendum, already judged by the Supreme Court, are not part of the investigation.

In a press release, the Civil Guard explains that the Volhov operation, which owes its name to a Russian river, is investigating a plot that allegedly benefited from the requalification of rustic land in Cabrera de Mar to build a business center, a restaurant and a concerted school, in an area called Complex Villabugatti.

In addition, indicates the armed institute, "irregularities by the Department of Education" of the Generalitat were detected in the granting of the school's agreement, and in the modification of the land from rustic to developable by the Cabrera de Mar City Council. The cause, he adds, is "investigating different ways of financing with public funds of irregular activities beyond the legal destination" of the money.

The Civil Guard is conducting searches at homes, offices and companies in the towns of Barcelona, ​​Sant Quirze del Vallès, Sant Joan Despí, Vilafranca del Penedès, Cabrera de Mar, Igualada, Montcada i Reixac and Girona, according to police sources.

This Wednesday's operation is part of another case, investigated by the same court, which analyzes the subsidies granted by the Barcelona Provincial Council to companies and entities in the world of independence.

Operation "show"

Reactions to the ongoing operation have not been long in coming.

"They attempt the political and civil death of the independence movement because three years after the declaration of independence we continue fighting for a just cause," former President Puigdemont tweeted.

His successor, Quim Torra, recently disbarred for disobedience, has launched a message this morning on social networks reporting the arrest of Alay, which has also been confirmed by his lawyer, Gonzalo Boye.

Another former president, Artur Mas, reacted this morning to the police operation, removing iron from it.

“We are already used to this type of show operations.

At the moment of truth, what are they investigating? ”, Asked the former president on TVE.