Magistrate Juan Carlos Peinado, who remains open the case against Begoña Gómezwife of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has given new impetus to her investigation and has decided this Friday to charge the businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés. The judge, who on July 29 summoned him to testify under the new condition of investigation, has taken this initiative after questioned him as a witness last Monday and therefore without the possibility of abusing his right not to testify and to be assisted by a lawyer. As confirmed by legal sources, Peinado also agreed that day to take statements from three witnesses, including the president of the Business Institute (IE).
The relationship between Barrabés and Gómez has been in the spotlight since Peinado In April, the complaint of the pseudo-union Schone Handen was taken into considerationorigin of this procedure. The magistrate, who keeps the summary open for crimes of influence peddling and corruption in business, asked the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Guardia Civil to analyze the link between the two. But the agents as stated in two reports already sent to the instructorhave found no irregularities in the public awards granted to the Barrabés business group, which held the chair co-directed by the president's wife at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) as a professor.
Barrabés on loan testimony last Monday. He explained that he had been to La Moncloa several times and that on one of the occasions he had met both the head of the executive power and his wife, according to sources present at that interrogation, although he did not recognize or specify any event. kind of irregularity. When addressing these meetings, the businessman told Peinado in particular that he had once met Begoña Gómez and coincided with Sánchez; briefly, while he was leaving to talk on the phone. The other time he saw the president in La Moncloa was when he participated in a meeting with other businessmen specialized in innovation, without the wife of the socialist leader being present.
After Barrabés was questioned as a witness, popular accusations – led by the far-right party Vox – called for the indictment of the businessman, who is suffering from a serious illness and has been in hospital for a long time. The magistrate gave the green light to this claim on Friday and plans to question him as an investigator on July 29 via videoconference from his home.
The witness condition
Whatever has the most influence is what comes closest. To not miss anything, subscribe.
Barrabés’ status in the case has generated enormous controversy. Although the magistrate has focused from the beginning on his relationship with Begoña Gómez and has asked to investigate the public awards to his companies, Judge Peinado has summoned him to appear as a witness – unlike the president’s wife, whom he accused. This circumstance prevented the businessman from exercising his right not to testify and not to attend the appointment with his lawyer. And what’s more, the Public Prosecutor’s Office itself has shown its bewilderment at this situation. In an appeal sent to the Provincial Court of Madrid, where the “procedural deviation” of the case was warnedthe public prosecutor wrote: Barrabés is “considered a witness” despite the fact that “the feeling is conveyed that he is the person being investigated, although it is not clear what”, since the investigations “revolve around” his figure.
Exactly, Gómez appeared in court this Friday and has accepted his right not to testify on the advice of his defense. His lawyer, the former socialist minister Antonio Camacho, has denounced that the magistrate has not clarified the details of his investigation and has undertaken an “extensive” investigation that exceeds the limits set by the Provincial Court of Madrid: “An investigating judge is not allowed to investigate. Whatever, you have to state what the object of the investigation is. We do not understand what guides the investigating court,” said Camacho.
The investigation against Begoña Gómez began three months ago. The details of the instruction have not been clarified so far. But from the magistrate's resolutions it is clear that the Gómez's relationship with businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés; his connection with Javier Hidalgo, CEO of Globalia, the group that owns the company Air Europa saved by the Council of Ministers in 2020—; and the ties of the president's wife to the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), where she was co-director of a professorship.