Marc Pons will have to testify as a witness in the hydrocarbons case

PalmThe judge of the National Court investigating the hydrocarbons case has summoned Marc Pons, from Menorca, and Juan Ignacio Díaz Bidart, former chiefs of staff to ex-ministers Teresa Ribera and Reyes Maroto, respectively, to testify as witnesses on January 28. This is stated in a court order, to which Europa Press had access, from Judge Santiago Pedraz. The judge has also summoned businessman Claudio Rivas, whom investigators consider the alleged leader of the hydrocarbons network linked to the company Villafuel, to appear on the same day as a suspect. Furthermore, the judge summoned businessman Víctor de Aldama again as a defendant on January 29. On January 30, the businesswomen Carmen Pano, who claims to have delivered 90,000 euros at the PSOE headquarters on Ferraz Street, and her daughter, Leonor González, will testify. Judge Pedraz has summoned the Director General of Energy Policy and Mines, Manuel García, and Manuel Salles, a company administrator, to testify as witnesses on the 29th. On the 30th, it will be Álvaro Gallego's turn; he may be linked to €108,500 withdrawn in cash, according to investigators.

The UCO (Central Operative Unit of the Civil Guard) indicated in its latest report to the case that the hydrocarbons network not only managed to infiltrate the top ranks of the Ministry of Transport when it was headed by José Luis Ábalos, but also those of the Ministries of Industry, Trade and Tourism, and Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, then led by Maroto and Riber, respectively. This infiltration was allegedly carried out through Aldama, "a person with access to Ábalos's inner circle," with the aim of "influencing the administrative decision that would grant Villafuel authorization to operate in the wholesale hydrocarbons market, despite its failure to meet the legally required conditions," which it did. The agents identify Aldama and Rivas as the alleged leaders of the network, who "held decision-making power, control, and coordination of both structures." The scheme allegedly formed "a criminal organization specializing in tax evasion within the strategic hydrocarbon sector, operating through a corporate structure headed by the operator Villafuel and other companies linked to the sector." "In parallel, this criminal organization had another structure comprised of commercial companies dedicated to perfecting operations aimed at laundering money derived from the illicit activities described," the report states. The UCO (Central Operative Unit of the Civil Guard) establishes that the alleged criminal operations began in 2020, when "the associates of the alleged criminal organization" reportedly asked Aldama to "activate his network of contacts" and intercede with the Ministry of Transport so that Villafuel could obtain an operating license. Furthermore, it maintains that the scheme allegedly spent one million euros to influence the businessman, former Minister Ábalos, and his former advisor Koldo García.