The president of the Congress of Deputies, Francina Armengol, is in a critical situation after the revelation of new WhatsApp messages that evidence her relationship with Koldo García, advisor to José Luis Ábalos and implicated in the alleged PSOE corruption scheme related to the purchase of masks during the pandemic, among other businesses. As published by Okdiariothe messages show how García pressured Armengol to meet with businessmen investigated in the scheme, something that contradicts the statements of the former Balearic president in the Senate investigation commission.
The evidence that disproves Armengol
Among the messages unveiled this week highlights one of November 16, 2020, at the gates of the worst moments of covid in the Balearic Islands, in which Koldo Garcia writes to Armengol: “Please, you can eat with them tomorrow something quick in a reserved and so better, is that the flights have them fucked”.
In another message, Ábalos’ advisor insists: “If you eat with them in an hour, I will always love you”, accompanied by emojis of hearts. The conversation evidences a climate of cordiality and complicity between the two.
These messages suggest that the then president of the Balearic Government maintained direct contact with the businessmen involved in the scheme, which contradicts her statements before the Senate investigation committee, where she denied knowing Victor de Aldama, one of the main investigated. Armengol assured in her appearance that she “did not” know nor had she ever spoken with Aldama, which is now questioned by the new evidence.
Moreover, in another recently known exchange of messages, Armengol directly asked Koldo García about the availability and prices of children’s masks, which contradicts the official version that his involvement in the purchase of health material was merely informative and not operational.
In the same message, Armengol shares with Koldo García the contact of an advisor who now works as head of the Secretariat of the Presidency of the Lower House, Águeda Quiñonero.
It is not known if the meeting requested by Ábalos’ advisor, who is allegedly receiving 10,000 euros per month from the plot, took place. There is no doubt of the request, nor of Armengol’s predisposition to keep it. “I cannot assure to be able to eat with them” due to “the vote of the debate to the totality of the Budget”, Armengol told him.
Consequences of the new disclosures
There is also no doubt that there was business. At least seven contracts for health material worth 11 million euros.
These new data further compromise the current president of the Congress, who was already in the spotlight for her management of the purchase of masks during her mandate in the Balearic Islands. The Balearic Government paid three times the market price for health material awarded to companies of the Koldo plot.
Three contracts to Soluciones de Gestión SL for 3.7 million euros for masks of such low quality that they were never used were part of the first investigations. In addition, the Government of Armengol formalized with Aldama’s plot five contracts worth six million with the company Injoo Technology for various medical equipment and two contracts totaling 1.1 million euros signed with Eurofins Megalab for PCR tests.
In all cases, these contracts were awarded on an emergency basis.
The current regional executive, chaired by Marga Prohens (PP), has ordered the audit of Covid contracts signed by the Government of Armengol, including five finger contracts for six million euros with the company Injoo Technology, linked to the company that rented a villa to former Minister Ábalos in Cadiz. In addition, the masks purchased from Soluciones de Gestión SL turned out to be unserviceable and have been out of date for two years.
Reactions of the Balearic and national PP
The PP of the Balearic Islands has been forceful in its response to the latest revelations. Marga Prohens demanded Armengol to “stop lying, give all the explanations at once and take responsibility for having been an accomplice of the Koldo plot to the detriment of the citizens of the Balearic Islands”.
In a message on the social network X (formerly Twitter), the president of the Balearic Government regretted that the socialist opposition in the islands is more concerned about “giving explanations week in and week out about their involvement in corruption” than in making an effective opposition .
At the national level, the PP has also reacted harshly. Miguel Tellado, popular spokesman in Congress, simply wrote in X: “And Armengol still has not resigned…”. For his part, Elías Bendodo, deputy secretary of Autonomous Policy of the PP, ironized with the tone of the leaked messages between Armengol and Koldo García: “From Koldo to affection”.
The deputy spokesman of the Balearic PP and president of the PP of Ibiza, José Vicente Marí, went further and accused the Socialists of “proposing for the future of the Balearic Islands the same past of corruption and clientelism that Armengol represents”, recalling other scandals linked to the Balearic PSOE, such as the cases of Hat Bar, Port Authority, masks and vaccinations.
A Congress in crisis and a PSOE in silence
The revelations come at a delicate moment for the Congress of Deputies, where Armengol serves as president in a legislature marked by political tensions. So far, neither the PSOE nor the government has issued an official response to the leaked messages, but the pressure on the president of Congress is growing as more details about her involvement in the plot become known.
The judicial investigation continues its course, with Judge Leopoldo Puente leading the inquiries and the Supreme Court finding “sufficient evidence” of crimes such as influence peddling, bribery and embezzlement in connection with the Koldo plot.
The approval of the suplicatorio against Ábalos in Congress reinforces the perception that the corruption surrounding the purchase of masks during the pandemic still has many ramifications to be uncovered.
