The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has asked to the judge who admitted the complaint of Manos Cleans against Begoña Gómez, wife of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, if the case he directs affects contracts signed with European funds and is already analyzing documentation of the procedure to determine if he is competent to investigate.
In a decree of April 26, to which Europa Press has had access, the community body asks the Court of Instruction Number 41 of Madrid to inform it of the events it is investigating and whether in the procedure“The UTE Innova Next SLU-The Valley Business School would be involved,” made up of a company owned by businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés, whom Manos Médicas points out as a beneficiary of Gómez’s “recommendations or endorsements.”
The delegated prosecutors Laura Pellón, Luis Miguel Jiménez and Antonio Zárate point out that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office “could, where appropriate, exercise its jurisdiction” to investigate said contracts if it deems it pertinent, for which it requests the court to send it the timely documentation.
In a ruling, to which Europa Press has had access, Judge Juan Carlos Peinado responds to the community body that the events he is investigating include “processes of awarding different contracts, by Red.es, among others to the UTE composed of the entities Innova Next—a company of the Barrabés Group—, SLU Business School, and The Valley.” And he specifies that he is investigating alleged crimes of influence peddling and corruption in business.
However, the instructor provides a copy of the required documents to the EPPO, although he does not comment on the jurisdiction of the investigation in relation to contracts with European funds, since it is the European Public Prosecutor’s Office itself that has to determine this.
The Red.es files
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As part of its verification procedures, the EPPO requests from Red.es the complete files on the three contracts in question, relating to training services for employment in the digital economy – two of them intended for young people and one for unemployed people. —. In the decree in which it makes such a request, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office specifies that it adopts this decision after having become aware, through “press publications”, of the reported facts relating to said files. Furthermore, it announces that, “once the previous projects have been identified”, it must notify the Administration Unit of the European Social Fund (UAFSE) to send it information on whether said contracts “have been financed with European funds and, if applicable, if they have been certified.”
The magistrate opened proceedings on April 16 for crimes of influence peddling and corruption in business, after receiving by distribution a complaint from Clean Hands —which It consisted of a simple enumeration of press headlines— about different professional jobs carried out by Sánchez’s wife.
