Marc Pons admits he met with Koldo, but not about the alleged hydrocarbon scheme.

PalmMarc Pons, the former chief of staff to the former Minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, has admitted to the National Court that he met four or five times with former ministerial advisor Koldo García, although not to discuss issues related to the alleged hydrocarbon scheme.

Legal sources explained this to Europa Press on Wednesday, adding that Pons indicated he had met with Ribera, Koldo, and former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos. Furthermore, according to the same sources, Pons testified before Judge Santiago Pedraz that he met with Koldo after asking for 15 seconds to see him, although he specified that they did not discuss the hydrocarbon operator's license that Villafuel, the epicenter of the case, was requesting. In one of the latest reports submitted to the case, the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard included a conversation between Koldo and Pons in which the former ministerial advisor requested a meeting.

"Can I see you for 15 seconds to give you the papers I mentioned regarding the application?" Koldo wrote to Pons on July 8, 2021, three months after sending him a photo of the electronic registration receipt for the Villafuel application.

In this same report, the agents include an image that Koldo forwarded to Pons in February 2021 containing "the registration data for documentation related to the Villafuel file." The former chief of staff stated that he believes he remembers sending the photo after their meeting, but expressed that he had no involvement in the processing of the hydrocarbon license nor did he receive any gifts.