Costa accuses Armengol of opening the doors of the Consulate to Koldo: "He let the corrupt plot in all the way to the kitchen"

PalmThe first vice-president and Minister of Economy and Finance, Antoni Costa, has lashed out at the leader of the PSIB and current president in Congress, Francina Armengol. The latest report from the UCO of the Civil Guard, which is investigating possible irregularities in the mask case, states that Armengol spoke with one of the main investigated individuals, Koldo García, about the purchase of sanitary material that is now under judicial scrutiny. Nevertheless, the then president of the Government soon delegated the management of the contract to the director of management of the Health Service of the Balearic Islands, Manuel Palomino. Costa has insinuated that Armegol did not tell the truth when she denied having been aware of this contract, as well as when she said she did not remember speaking with García. Furthermore, he has accused her of opening the doors of the Consulate to the offenders: "She let the corrupt trap in up to the kitchen."

"When all the citizens of these islands were confined to our homes, when the healthcare workers were at their limit, and people were dying in hospitals, a band of scoundrels from an alleged corrupt scheme was taking advantage of the situation to do business," Costa lamented, referring to the contract, signed in 2020. In the same vein, he accused the previous Government led by Armengol of "letting the alleged offenders into the Government's inner circle." "The most outrageous thing is that they were practically handed over to them," he pointed out: "It was a relationship of absolute cordiality, in which the doors were opened to the corrupt scheme."

Costa recalled Armengol's statements in various appearances in the Parliament and Congress, and also in a written statement addressed to the court investigating the case. Just ten days ago, the socialist stated in a written declaration addressed to the Supreme Court (TS) that she never managed the contracts for sanitary material during the pandemic nor gave any instructions in this regard. Although the summary reproduces WhatsApp message exchanges between her and García, the president denied having any knowledge. "As a consequence of the publications of the summary in the media, I learned that he sent me some WhatsApp messages," she said: "What I can say is that in any case I would have forwarded it immediately to the contracting authority."

In the case of the contract signed in the Balearic Islands, it is a purchase of masks worth 3.7 million euros. Despite the fact that two months earlier the Balearic Health Service (IB-Salut) had received an unfavorable internal analysis of the product, the body issued a certificate of conformity with the order of masks. Three years later, after the regional elections, the outgoing government filed a claim against the awarded company.