Former judge Manuel Penalva (centre) and former prosecutor Miguel Ángel Subirán (right) arrive at a trial of those investigated in the ‘Cursach case’ in Palma June 22. Isaac Buj (Europa Press )
The agents of the Money Laundering Group of the National Police of the Balearic Islands, who investigated the Cursach case and who is currently being tried, together with the judge and the prosecutor in the case, for alleged irregularities in the judicial investigations against the businessman Bartolomé Cursach , has defended that his Senior police officers were aware of the actions taken during the development of the case and that there was “clear evidence” pointing to the commission of crimes by the principal investigators. All of the defendants, including Cursach, were acquitted after all charges were dropped, and prosecutors are now asking for more than 500 years in prison for the judge, the prosecutor and the four police officers charged with alleged crimes of disclosing secrets, illegal Imprisonment and Disability investigated justice and legal evasion. “All the information was available to everyone, including the police commanders,” said former National Police Deputy Inspector for Money Laundering, Miguel Ángel Blanco.
The trial continues these days with the statements of the accused. After the appearances of former judge Manuel Penalva and former anti-corruption prosecutor Miguel Ángel Subirán, these days it is the turn of the four agents of the Money Laundering Group of the National Police of the Balearic Islands who investigated the case of judicial officials. The agents agreed that their superiors were aware of the arrests made and the procedures followed and were never questioned. For more than an hour, Deputy Inspector Blanco has been listing the leads to irregularities that led to the arrests of thirteen people in the so-called ORA case, a separate part of the Cursach case investigating the alleged manipulations in the competition for the concession of the service Parking regulated by Palma. Blanco insisted there were “clear signs” and that “he didn’t quit like crazy” as some of the allegations suggest.
“The arrests were judged by us and by Step 2, which consisted of Prosecutor Juan Carrau, who knew everything because the report and the statement were sent to him. Three police chiefs had it too, because as my colleagues said, this cannot be done without the approval of those three commanders. Blanco has stressed that at that point investigators had evidence of the irregularities, which is what is being asked for at this stage of the process, as opposed to what the allegations are now asking “what they are asking of us at the first police force”. Little less than a conviction in the early stages.” Blanco, who collapsed at one point in his performance, conceded that “perhaps it could have been done better”. “In a hundred lives I would do the same thing with what I had, in a hundred lives I would do the same thing, even though I’m 111 years old,” he said, referring to prosecutor Tomás Herranz.
The inspector of the Money Laundering Group of the National Police of the Balearic Islands, José Luis García Reguera, also stated that he agreed that his superiors “monitored, knew about and consented to” the procedures carried out. The sub-inspector said his chiefs of police for the islands were aware of the arrests, many of which were questioned by prosecutors and private law enforcement agencies. The sub-inspector has detailed that at headquarters they report their activities to the head of the criminal police brigade every day. “By and large, the brigade chief knew how things were going during the investigation. I believe he had a meeting with Judge Penalva. He was informed in advance of impending arrests and was presented with draft notices. Regarding these arrests, which the private allegations question because they consider them unnecessary in some cases and the result of pressure in others, the sub-inspector pointed out that they were carried out “in the same way as all others”. and that there was no difference in this case. He realized something was wrong when one of the reports he had prepared on the Cursach group was held at the Treasury Department for months and the officer had not been given instructions on the investigation, despite being asked to cooperate. “That’s when I realized they had found a scapegoat and it was me,” he assured.
Inspector Blanca Ruiz, who was also part of the money laundering group, has spoken out about the confiscation of her mobile phone, which found several WhatsApp groups that prosecutors have used as key evidence for the indictment. Two agents showed up at her office in Madrid and told her that she was under arrest and that she had to hand over her mobile phone. “I didn’t see the phone again,” he said, stressing that it didn’t end up in a sealed envelope. When he told the agents he wanted to testify, he said they would have to call Balearic Headquarters to ask them some questions as they had nothing prepared. Regarding the arrests, the inspector insisted that they had been made “with the knowledge of the commanders” as the information had been given to them before it was made. “The treatment of the detainees was very correct.” In the next few days, testimony will be given in the trial, with the testimony of the two inspectors of the National Police of the Balearic Islands, who led the investigations against their former colleagues, being the first.
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