Judge Manuel García-Castellón, investigating the Púnica case in the National Court, has sent seven people to trial for their alleged involvement in the slush fund of the PP of Madrid and the diversion of public funds during the Governments of Esperanza Aguirre. The judge has opened oral proceedings, among others, against Francisco Granados, former secretary general of the conservative party and former right-hand man of the regional president; and Beltrán Gutiérrez, his former manager. The Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office is asking for 7 years and 10 months in prison for Granados, who was already sentenced in 2017 to two years in prison for the tip-off that a civil guard gave him about the investigation opened against him. The prosecutor also requests three and a half years of imprisonment for Gutiérrez. This decision, which leaves the case pending trial by the Criminal Court, puts an end to a long case on the irregular financing of the PP of Madrid, which originated from the “casual” finding of a Moleskine agenda at Granados’ house, during the police raids carried out by the Guardia Civil in October 2014. Investigators were closing in on the PP leader for the shady business he had woven with businessman David Marjaliza, which supposedly allowed him to amass a fortune in Switzerland. But during the search of his home, they found this notebook, which contains multiple notes from the secretary general about campaign events for the regional elections of 2011 and alleged entries about the slush fund.
The Moleskine agenda included various notes arranged in two columns and each headed by the English words “in” and “out”. According to the agents, these writings reflected the money deliveries from construction companies to the party and the cash withdrawals. The donors were identified by their initials. And the alleged recipient of some of them was also identified: “BG”, Beltrán Gutiérrez, the party’s manager. This finding, together with other evidence and the collaboration of repentant David Marjaliza, allowed this new line of investigation to be opened. The investigations ended up pointing to the top of the PP in Madrid and three former regional presidents were charged: Esperanza Aguirre, Ignacio González, and Cristina Cifuentes. However, the three were later removed from the case. Judge García-Castellón concluded that there was not sufficient evidence against them, in line with the Prosecutor’s Office and the subsequent support of the Criminal Court. All responsibility for the slush fund was limited to Granados and Gutiérrez.
Thus, out of all the top leaders of the Madrid PP, only the former secretary general and the former manager will face trial for the slush fund. Five other defendants will join them in the dock for other aspects of the investigation: the diversion of public funds for, for example, the execution of online reputation campaigns in favor of PP leaders. This group is composed of the accused Borja Sarasola, former regional councilors in Ignacio González’s era; Isabel Gallego, former press chief of Aguirre; businessman Alejandro De Pedro; José Martínez Nicolás; and Diego Mora.
