The former president of the Community of Madrid Esperanza Aguirre in an image from 2017.Getty Images
The PSOE and the Association of Democratic Lawyers for Europe (Adade), appearing as a popular accusation in the Púnica
case
, have asked the National Court to grant more time to the popular former mayor of Majadahonda, Guillermo Ortega, so that he can review the documentation that accumulates and thus present evidence that, according to what he said, would affect Esperanza Aguirre, former president of the Community of Madrid.
The Socialists have proposed this measure by appealing the decision of Manuel García-Castellón, investigating judge of the investigation into the alleged irregular financing of the PP in Madrid, which has already ended the term for the former alderman to deliver his report.
The party also reproaches the magistrate for "haste and inaction" to "shield" politics, to which he maintains imputed.
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Esperanza Aguirre, the politician who "never" knew anything
Guillermo Ortega, convicted of the
Gürtel case
and currently in prison, said in 2020 that Aguirre placed him at the head of the Mercado Puerta de Toledo public company, from where he diverted more than a million euros to pay expenses for the formation's electoral campaigns .
In addition, the former mayor provided invoices to support his accusations, which caused García-Castellón to separate his testimony from the instruction on the b box of the Madrid PP and open a new line of investigation in 2021 (Separate Piece 13 of
the Púnica case
) focused on
only in his statements, which the Criminal Chamber forced him to join later when considering that they were related facts.
With the idea of delving into these extremes, the popular ex-regidor requested that, in order to collect the alleged evidence that he accumulated, they provide him in prison with access to his computer and the accounts of the Puerta de Toledo Market.
But, later, Ortega explained that he had difficulties preparing his conclusions, since he could only consult his documents during very reduced hours, due to his imprisonment.
A problem that, as the PSOE denounces in its appeal, was not solved until April of this year, when the appropriate "technical means" were made available.
The Socialists explain that Ortega then submitted a letter on May 23, where he requested more time to prepare his report, since he had to work with "huge volumes of documentation" and had not been able to get started until he had overcome "enormous technical difficulties."
The magistrate then gave him a 10-day extension, which he terminated last week.
"You cannot make the continuation of the piece depend on Ortega's will," argued the instructor.
The former mayor of Majadahonda, Guillermo Ortega, arrives at the National Court, in a file image. Javier Lizón (EFE)
But, for the popular associations, the time granted was insufficient.
What's more, the PSOE charges against García-Castellón: "The speed that they want to imprint on the instruction process just in the final stretch is not understood."
"As the Prosecutor's Office already pointed out in another case, inaction and haste seem to draw red lines that would shield the Popular Party and its leaders, in this case the one who was president of the Community of Madrid and the PP in this autonomy," he stresses. the resource of the socialists, who consider that the information that Ortega can provide "will surely be of extraordinary relevance", since he "admitted" his "direct participation in the events".
The party asks the Court to ask the ex-regidor to report "on the status of his writing, including presenting an advance or previous outline",
Aguirre - who headed the three organizations where corrupt practices have been detected: the regional Executive, the regional PP and Fundescam (Foundation for the Economic and Social Development of the Autonomous Community of Madrid) - remains currently charged in this line of investigation of
the Púnica case
, that the magistrate already considers "exhausted" after more than five years and that the Criminal Chamber has already urged to finish on one occasion.
In fact, last January, García-Castellón terminated the investigation and is now waiting for the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office to present its final report on the case, where it will have to ask if it asks to prosecute the former Madrid president.
An option that, according to legal sources, is going to be difficult, since none of her subordinates pointed it out during the investigation with solid enough evidence to send her to the bench.
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