The National Court began this Monday the trial of Alfredo Prada, former Vice President of the Community of Madrid and Minister of Justice under Esperanza Aguirre (PP), for his alleged involvement in the irregularities found in the contracts for the construction of the Justice Campus, which never opened its doors , after spending more than 100 million euros on the project. The former popular politician, who was ousted by Aguirre in 2008 after publicly supporting Mariano Rajoy in the open internal struggle for the leadership of the conservative party, denies any illegality and the alleged embezzlement of public funds. And this was reiterated by his lawyer at the first session of the oral hearing, who claimed that the anti-corruption prosecutor's office had prepared the summary on “an unrealistic factual basis”.
The defense insists that the accusation is based on the thesis that part of the documentation is missing, which was “destroyed” by the Community of Madrid itself, forcing the former leader of the PP to prove his innocence. “There is no concrete quantification of the damage to the Community of Madrid, which is alleged in the indictment,” added the lawyer for the former vice president, for whom prosecutors are demanding eight years in prison.
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The judicial investigation – initiated by Judge José de la Mata and concluded by his successor at the head of the Central Court of Instruction 5, Santiago Pedraz – concluded that the defendants hatched a “criminal plan” to “irregularly” enter into contracts to award: “They essentially “corrupted the procurement process and significantly affected its operations and economic results,” says one of the orders included in the summary, which focuses on several contracts: such as the elaboration of the “City of Justice” project and the optional management of the work. the creation of a representative brand and communication strategy or legal advice.
According to the investigators, the investigation into the Campus de la Juticia case does not reveal any use of funds for the personal gain of the defendant. In this case, the summary highlights, there was damage to the public purse caused, among other things, by overlooking “defects and deficiencies” in the specifications and technical assessment reports; through “arbitrary and unjustified” proposals; and by “repeatedly waiving any contractual procedure.” The State Ministry, emphasizing that those involved were aware of the “illegality of the action,” attributes them to crimes of subterfuge, fraud against public administration and embezzlement of public funds.
“The conduct committed here affects the functioning of a public institution whose impartiality, probity and reputation, as well as its effectiveness and asset integrity, have been compromised, damaged and undermined (including the damage suffered). . the state treasury of hundreds of millions of euros),” said Judge José de la Mata at the conclusion of this investigation.
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The Fall of Prada
The former consultant's story is a real roller coaster ride. After spending a decade in the Senate, he moved to the Aguirre-led regional government, which promoted him to second vice president and head of the Justice and Home Affairs Department. However, everything was cut short in 2008 when the senior official allied himself with Rajoy in a fratricidal war for control of the party after defeat in parliamentary elections that year. Prada then left the front lines, but returned to Congress as a representative in 2011, where he remained until 2016. In 2018, when Pablo Casado was already at the head of the PP, the executive brought him back and took over the management of the Popular Office Office task of preventing corruption. within the popular ranks. But his accusation in 2019 over campus contracts led to his departure.
In addition to Alfredo Prada, there are five other people on the judge's bench for whom the public prosecutor is demanding six years in prison. Among them stands out the name of Commissioner Andrés Gómez Gordo, former security director of the Madrid organization and later advisor to María Dolores de Cospedal during her time as head of the executive branch of Castile-La Mancha, who is also indicted in court in an investigation called the Kitchen case ( the parapolice operation created in the Ministry of the Interior to steal sensitive documents from Luis Bárcenas, the former People's Treasurer). The other four defendants who complete the hearing at the Judicial Campus are: Isabelino Baños, Mariano José Sanz and Alicio de las Heras, who held the positions of Technical General Director of the Campus, Technical Deputy General Director and Financial Director, respectively; and one of the advisors, Félix José García.
During the hearing this Monday, dedicated to the phase of preliminary questions, the prosecution announced that it was withdrawing the indictment for technical reasons: “Not because we understand that the facts are not criminal.” As the representative of the bar explained, this hearing will assess Prada's time as president of the Campus of Justice, a position he resigned in June 2008. And the transfers of state funds to the Community of Madrid for the campuses They took place from November of the same year, when Francisco Granados was already in charge of this organization. For this reason, the law firm added that due to a merely “temporary” matter, it made no sense to continue in this part of the trial focused on the Prada era, and therefore its role as an allegation will focus on that and remain there second stage of Granados, which is still under investigation.
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