This Is the New Date When Ábalos Will Testify

Ábalos has had a new update. The Supreme Court judge, Leopoldo Puente, has accepted the former minister's request to postpone the scheduled date of his statement as a suspect. Due to this change, Ábalos must face a new date for his statement, which according to The Objective, will be February 20.

According to the media, the request was submitted by the lawyer of the Mixed Group deputy. He argued that the initial date coincided with a prior summons in a Criminal Court in Madrid, which he must attend. Additionally, the magistrate has issued an order to deliver only the transcript of the statements to the parties, in order to prevent the leakage of the recordings.

With this change, Ábalos's statement is moved to two days later, as we recall that Puente summoned him to testify on the upcoming 18th. We recall that along with Ábalos, the magistrate also called 17 other witnesses to testify between February 25 and March 5.

Notably, Víctor Ábalos, the former minister's son, also former high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Transport, such as Jesús Manuel Gómez García, Javier Herrero, and Isabel Pardo de Vera.

Also the Chief of Staff of the Minister of Finance, Carlos Moreno Medina. Meanwhile, Joseba García Izaguirre, brother of the investigated Koldo García, has been called to testify. Also Carmen Pano, his daughter, Jessica Rodríguez García, and several businessmen.

Along with the statement, the Supreme Court has requested a detailed analysis of his assets. Not only Ábalos's, but also his son's.

This analysis must include information on bank accounts, properties, vehicles, and company shares. In addition to consulting open sources to determine if they own or are linked to any assets or commercial companies.

The preparation of the asset report will take time, as will the analysis of their communications, which until now remained untouched without proper authorization. Now they can be examined for possible indications. The UCO faces the challenge of finding evidence, despite the main suspect having had almost a year to prepare.

We recall that the case is driven by a private complaint and under the supervision of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office. It investigates alleged crimes of criminal organization.

In addition to money laundering, bribery, influence peddling, and tax fraud. All related to emergency contracts awarded during the COVID-19 pandemic.