The Prosecutor's Office requests sentences of up to 21 years in prison for the plot of "illegal financing" of the Artur Mas Convergència

The former manager of the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) Germà Gordó, in a file image.Albert Garcia

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office has requested that sentences of up to 21 years and four months in prison be imposed on those accused in the

, the plot of alleged illegal financing hatched in the defunct CDC (Democratic Convergence of Catalonia), led by Jordi Pujol and Artur Mas, former presidents of the Catalan Generalitat.

The public ministry, which also asks to fine three million euros to the PDeCAT as heir to the disappeared nationalist party, sets out those penalties in the indictment that it has presented in the open instruction in the National Court for the fixing of public tenders during, at least, eight years to divert money to the coffers of training.

Prosecutor José Grinda, who signs the 210-page document, describes the plot as a true "criminal organization" and charges Andreu Viloca and Germà Gordó, former treasurer and former manager, respectively, of the political force, whom he places at the top. of the allegedly corrupt network.

For the first he asks for 21 years and four months in prison;

for the second, who was a man of the maximum confidence of Artur Mas, a total of 18 years and 10 months.

However, for two other former high-ranking party officials, it requests much lower sentences for their collaboration in the investigation: for the former head of finance Daniel Osàcar, Anticorruption demands only a punishment of one year and six months in prison, which can be replaced by jobs in community benefit;

and for the former financial manager Francesc Xavier Sánchez,

In its brief, to which EL PAÍS has had access, Anti-corruption shows enormous forcefulness: "In the period from 2008 to 2015, senior CDC officials, in collusion with public officials and officials from different Administrations and public institutions of Catalonia, and with the different accused businessmen set up a structure to finance this political party illegally and covertly.”

"It was a systematic action to transform that money into income for Convergència without the stain of its illicit origin," exposes the public accusation.

The supposedly illegal mechanism begins with the figure of Gordó, who was also a Minister of Justice of the Govern de Mas.

According to the prosecutor, the defendants acted under his "direction" to control the tenders for public works and services that were drawn up by the different Administrations that were "under the sphere of power of the CDC", from the Generalitat itself to city councils, provincial councils and dependent organizations.

In this way, they then influenced those responsible for the awards so that they would be awarded to businessmen of their rope, who injected money into the training in the form of donations.

Andreu Viloca, who is defined as the "neuralgic center of the structure", "fundamentally was in charge of making the triangulation with authorities and businessmen, and of the payments to the foundations", the letter from the public ministry emphasizes.

This calculates that, in total, tenders worth 218.7 million euros were "compromised".

"All of them subverted the rules of market competition and used the direction of the Administrations to obtain an economic and political benefit," continues Anticorruption, which also implicates Carles del Pozo, former coordinator of the Convergència Economic area;

and Anna Dolors Benítez, former economic and financial chief of the party;

for whom she asks for sentences of 14 and 10 years in prison, respectively.

The list of accused businessmen includes, among others, Francesc Xavier Tauler Ferré, José Miarnau, Josep Manuel Bassols, Ramón Anglada, Joan Albert Arqués Fontdevila and Jordi Sumarroca.

The Prosecutor's Office explains that the donations from businessmen —which were formalized through the CatDem and Forum Barcelona foundations— did not always entail the award of specific works.

Sometimes, they made these contributions “to create or maintain a good relationship with the party and, thus, be taken into account for future awards and be considered eligible”: “That is, to improve the expectations of being beneficiaries of such contracts, to generate or maintain the privileged relationship with CDC, and to consecrate their belonging to the

that would allow them to demand influence.”

According to the calculations of the Prosecutor's Office, only between 2008 and 2012 the two foundations received more than 9.5 million euros as donations, of which 1.85 million corresponded to "illicit payments".

Anticorruption attributes to the 30 accused people and 14 companies crimes of criminal organization, fraud against the public administration, corruption between individuals, influence peddling, prevarication, money laundering and bribery.

The trick of the PDeCAT

The Anticorruption brief comes more than a year after the Criminal Court of the Hearing confirmed the prosecution of the CDC and the PDeCAT.

The court considered that there is sufficient evidence against them and supported the instruction of Judge José de la Mata, who in July 2020 proposed sending both parties to the bench as legal entities and about thirty people for plotting the alleged illicit financing network.

When prosecuting the PDeCAT, the National Court already emphasized its presumed responsibility, despite the fact that this party was founded after the events under investigation.

The Criminal Chamber stressed that there are "solid indications" that this formation was created in 2016 to disassociate itself "from the criminal responsibilities that weighed" on Convergència: "The PDeCAT maintains a substantial identity with the structure, operation and human and material resources from the extinct party, which, however, survives for the purpose of collecting subsidies pending receipt”.

Prosecutor Grinda now has an impact on this line: “The creation of the PDeCAT, far from corresponding to the birth of a new party, was the mere transformation or change of appearance of the same reality,