The Central Operating Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard has sent the results of three weeks of investigation on suspected contracts involving Red.es (dependent on the Ministry of Economy at the time) for alleged influence peddling by Begoña Gómez, the wife of the President of the Government, to Judge Juan Carlos Peinado. The Economic Crime Group 3 of the Civil Guard’s report of nearly 120 pages, along with several documentary annexes, has not found any evidence of influence peddling so far in the preparation of the tender specifications for the tenders called in 2020; nor in the work of the members of the tender evaluation committee that approved the contracts to the company Innova Next, owned by Juan Carlos Barrabés, nor in the actions of those who signed the subjective evaluation reports of the different offers, according to judicial sources familiar with the report. Despite this, Judge Peinado continues with the investigation and will question four of the executives and employees of Red.es who were involved in those tenders on June 6th: David Cierco (CEO of Red.es at the time of the contracts); Alberto Martínez Lacambra (successor since May 2023), Ignacio Espejo (president of the tender evaluation committee) and Luis Prieto (director of Digital Economy overseeing the subjective evaluation reports), as well as Barrabés and a partner of his.
The Civil Guard’s report details the work of the four individuals from Red.es mentioned by the judge and examines the contracts awarded to Barrabés, who competed in the tenders alongside The Valley. Barrabés had previously worked as a professor in the Master’s program in Competitive Social Transformation directed by Begoña Gómez at Complutense University. Prior to analyzing the contracts under suspicion, the UCO investigated the relationship between Barrabés and his companies with the public administration. Two of his companies invoiced 25 million euros in 89 public contracts awarded by 60 different administrations, including the Military Quarter of His Majesty the King and the Royal Guard or the Military Emergency Unit, who purchased mountain equipment from Barrabés Ski Mountain. Various institutions governed by the PP party also awarded contracts to Innova Next, such as the City Council of Madrid, the Community of Madrid through the Agency for Digital Administration, and the City Council of Málaga. Numerous central government entities under the administration of Pedro Sánchez also awarded contracts to Barrabés’ companies.
One noteworthy aspect in the subjective evaluation. The company of Barrabés included a dissemination plan in its bid with up to 32 letters of “declaration of interest and support” from public institutions and private companies, including one signed by Begoña Gómez as co-director of a Master’s program at Complutense University. However, the Guardia Civil notes that in the reports of subjective evaluation of these letters, Begoña Gómez’s signed letter is not even mentioned. There are instances where the City Council of Madrid, under the PP party, awarded three contracts to Barrabés’ company in 2021, where half of the scoring was based on “other criteria or improvements” and companies presented support letters to earn points, similar to a letter signed by a leader from the Department of Employment in the City Council of Madrid.
No connections between the accused and Red.es executives. The UCO finds it significant that in the contracts awarded to Barrabés with support letters signed by Begoña Gómez, three recurring circumstances were observed: 1. The tender specifications were signed by the CEO of Red.es, David Cierco. 2. Despite not being the best economic offer, Innova Next was the highest-rated in the subjective component of the tender and was ultimately awarded the contract. 3. Luis Prieto, Director of Digital Economy at Red.es, signed the subjective evaluation reports, which aided Innova Next in being the winning offer. The Guardia Civil’s report states: “No other connections have been found, at least for now, between David Cierco and Luis Prieto with Begoña Gómez” other than signing the tender specifications and subjective evaluation reports for Barrabés’ bid.
No differences, the same dynamics as other tenders. The UCO examined a dozen tenders from the same department of Red.es to determine if there were any unique elements in the contracts awarded to Barrabés that could indicate manipulation of the award process. The report mentions that there were no general differences or distinctive elements found that would suggest that the three contracts analyzed were evaluated differently from other similar tenders in terms of subjective criteria. The aspects highlighted in the analysis of the three contracts that could subjectively impact their awards were part of the usual dynamics of tenders conducted by the General Directorate of Red.es at that time.
