The investigation into the corruption plot uncovered by the so-called
Barracks case
has revealed that the presumed implicated used various tricks to divert public funds initially intended for the improvement of the Civil Guard facilities in 13 command posts.
The investigations have so far confirmed a long list of alleged irregularities committed by the group, whose alleged leader was Lieutenant General Pedro Vázquez Jarava.
Among them, the issuance of false invoices for works that were never carried out, the unjustified fractioning of the budgets for the works in amounts that did not exceed 5,000 euros to avoid controls and the express processing of payments to the builder allegedly benefited by the irregularities, as detailed in an order issued on February 20 by the Provincial Court of Madrid to which EL PAÍS has had access.
Vázquez Jarava, in retirement since January 2018, is accused of the crimes of influence peddling, administrative prevarication, bribery, documentary falsification and embezzlement.
The other high command accused, Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Alonso, who was the head of the Ávila command, only for these last two crimes, according to sources from the armed institute.
A third commander of the armed institute, Colonel José María Tienda, was dismissed last Wednesday by the Interior as head of the Civil Guard in Tenerife also for these events.
There are also two businessmen involved.
The investigations that have uncovered the alleged fraud began in May 2018, after the Ministry of the Interior received an anonymous letter denouncing alleged irregularities in the works contracts of the Ávila command.
Since then, the investigation has spread to another 12 provinces and already affects 193 contracts with an estimated value of 3.3 million euros.
At the epicenter of the alleged plot is General Vázquez Jarava, who at the time the works were carried out was in charge of the General Support Subdirectorate, one of the most powerful positions within the Civil Guard when managing the financial and patrimonial resources of the institution.
Next to him, the researchers place the Canarian builder Ángel Ramón Tejera de León,
Mon
, awardee of the contracts under suspicion.
This businessman appears cited in another corruption summary, the
mediator case
, although sources of the investigation rule out for now a connection between the two causes.
The most advanced investigations are those that affect the barracks in Ávila, a province that has 27 Civil Guard facilities.
The judge already has two reports, one from the inspector of the Civil Guard in Castilla y León and another from an expert, on the alleged irregularities in at least three of the posts of the armed institute in this province.
Specifically, those of Navarredonda de Gredos, Arévalo and Hoyo de Pinares.
The expert documents point to high differences between the real cost of the works and the amounts finally paid.
According to one of these reports, 99,173 euros of public money were spent in one of these awards when in reality what was executed had a value of 19,938 euros.
The rest, 79,938 euros, which represents 80% of the value of the contract, was allegedly diverted by the plot.
Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Alonso, who was then head of the Ávila command post, is being investigated for these events.
It has been a resource of this high command to the imputation of him that has motivated the order of the provincial court in which part of the
modus operandi
of the plot is detailed.
Always according to this judicial document, which cites the statements as witnesses of four civil guards stationed in barracks in the province and the Canarian builder himself, the alleged irregularities covered the entire process of the work, from the steps prior to the award to the payment.
Thus, the magistrates emphasize that the three companies from Tejera de León -Angrasurcor, Solochorcho and Canarycork, all of them domiciled in Lanzarote- were awarded with budgets prepared "without visiting the barracks".
One of the civil guards who testified showed the judge how surprised he was by the fact that "the works awarded to a businessman [the Canarian builder] came."
The judicial resolution adds that, on occasions, contracts for buildings were put out to tender without a prior study confirming that these works were necessary.
The order also emphasizes the short time that elapsed ―it expressly speaks of “immediacy”― between the presentation of the invoices, their approval by a person in charge of the Civil Guard and their presentation for collection.
In this sense, one of the agents who testified assured that the builder "sometimes brought estimates and invoices at the same time."
The Provincial Court gives the example of 12 invoices for painting works in five barracks in Ávila that appear dated between November 8 and 9, 2016, and that received the approval of the person in charge of the barracks and entered the Delegation Registry de Economía y Hacienda de Ávila for collection in less than 24 hours.
To this, the magistrates add other alleged irregularities detected.
Specifically, "the discrepancy between the work carried out [mostly painting and waterproofing] and the content of the invoices."
And they add that, in some cases, the payments were made despite the fact that the work had been carried out partially or, even, had not even been done.
One of the agents declared that "invoices were paid without the works having been carried out."
The Canarian builder himself admitted in his statement in court the "existence of amounts in invoices that did not correspond to what was actually executed", although he tried to justify it by ensuring that he compensated him with extra work in other barracks.
According to him, he assured, he did this with some jobs in the province of Badajoz, which he ended up charging on the bills for works in Ávila.
The order also highlights that some invoices were issued in the names of a second businessman who was also accused - he assured that he provided his tax information to Tejera de León at his request to ensure the collection of a debt that he had with him -;
the splitting of invoices and the payment of amounts without prior verification that the contracted work had been carried out, not even by the builder himself, who admitted that "he did not supervise the work carried out by the workers".
During their statements, two agents showed their surprise at the large amount of money (120,000 euros) that, at the end of 2016, the General Directorate of the Civil Guard released to carry out works in the Ávila barracks.
The investigation indicates that General Vázquez Jarava used his position as Deputy Director General of Support to proceed with the "decentralization of credit" (which meant that the commanders had more money to award minor contracts) and, later, told the their managers to contract with the companies of Tejera de León.
The judge is waiting to receive a new expert report, this one referring to the nearly 200 works under suspicion, to check if these allegedly irregular practices were repeated in other headquarters.
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