The commission agent Luis Medina now assures that he is putting his grandmother's inheritance at the disposal of the court

The commission agent Luis Medina, accused of alleged fraud against the Madrid City Council, now assures that he is making available to the court the part that corresponds to him from the inheritance of his grandmother, the deceased María Eugenia Fernández de Córdoba, eighteenth Duchess of Medinaceli.

With this movement, the brother of the current Duke of Feria, a regular in the gossip press, tries to avoid the crime of concealment of assets, which Judge Adolfo Carretero attributed to him last week after considering that he had tried to hide money when he knew he was being investigated, to avoid thus facing their possible responsibilities.

Through a letter dated this Monday, to which EL PAÍS has had access, Medina's defense denies that he committed a crime of concealment of assets.

Among other arguments, he states that the judge did not order the seizure of his assets until April 2022 and, therefore, "before this date there was no seizure, debt or claimable credit right for which he had to respond."

In addition, adds his lawyer, "the situation of insolvency does not exist, since [his client] obtained a ruling in his favor in the Court of First Instance number 12 of Seville as heir to the deceased Fernández de Córdoba, where the amount to be received exceeds more than the amount seized —for which his hereditary rights would cover the well-deserved bail—, and that is made available to the court to carry out the seizure”.

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The judge accuses the commission agents Luceño and Medina of "hiding with deceit and profit" the overpricing

According to the defense, by using part of his assets, Medina did not intend to "disappear or hide his assets to frustrate the payment of creditors, since he does not have them."

“Don Luis, to date, has not contracted any monetary obligation with any of the parties involved in this process.

He is not a debtor of any credit right against them, neither public nor private, and has not been sentenced to pay them any civil liability, ”adds his lawyer, who has appealed Medina's accusation of the crime of concealment of assets, considering that The judge does not argue his decision.

In addition, in parallel, he has asked Judge Carretero to investigate the leaks to the press for crimes of revealing secrets.

passport withdrawal

Medina is accused of fraud, money laundering, false documents and concealment of assets.

The judge withdrew his passport on Monday, appreciating the risk of flight, since he faces crimes that could mean more than 20 years in prison.

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office maintains that the businessman acted together with his partner Alberto Luceño to defraud the City Council.

According to the public prosecutor's complaint, they offered him "the possibility of acquiring large consignments of medical supplies manufactured in China."

But, in exchange, they pocketed six million euros, thanks to the fact that they "artificially inflated" the prices of products with skyrocketing commissions: 60% for masks;

71% for the tests;

and 81% for gloves, according to the investigations.

With the profits they made, they bought luxury goods, such as high-end cars;

gold watches;

a yacht, which Medina baptized as

and registered in Gibraltar;

and a house in Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid), with three parking spaces and valued at more than one million euros.

Luceño also paid 60,000 euros for a week's stay in a hotel in Marbella.

In addition to the Prosecutor's Office, the Madrid City Council itself and all the leftist opposition parties have appeared as accusations in the case: Más Madrid, Podemos and PSOE.

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Luis Medina's statement before the judge

Excerpt from Luis Medina's statement before the judge, this Monday.

The mayor's cousin, on target

Podemos, appearing as a popular accusation, has requested this Tuesday that the cousin of the mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida, Carlos Martínez-Almeida, be charged for mediating so that the commission agents contacted the City Council.

As Medina himself explained this Monday, he managed to speak with the alderman's relative, through a former university professor, and Carlos Martínez-Almeida facilitated the way to Elena Collado, a senior official of the Madrid City Council and in charge of the Purchasing area at that time.

“I called Carlos and told him that we had medical supplies to sell.

Being the mayor's cousin, I figured he could give me a contact at City Hall.

He gave me an

, which I think was Elena Collado's, "said the investigator to Judge Adolfo Carretero, who has already concluded that the accused used his" influence "in his favor and" took advantage of his status as a public figure " .

In this sense, Podemos underlines the importance of Carlos Martínez-Almeida being a relative of the mayor: “Personal circumstance that could have given Medina direct access to the person whose functions were, at the time of the events, those of managing the purchases of medical supplies.

That allowed him, "in the end, to obtain a disproportionate economic benefit," adds the political party, which has also requested that the university professor testify as a witness, as well as the directors of the bank offices where the businessmen received their enormous commissions.