Koldo García Accuses UCO of "Distorting" Information to Inflate His Wealth

The best defense is a good offense, it is often said, and Koldo García seems to have understood this. In this regard, the lawyer of the former advisor to the socialist minister José Luis Ábalos has severely criticized in a document the report presented by the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard regarding the alleged increase in wealth he supposedly benefited from after the contracts for the purchase of masks during the pandemic. In fact, he directly claims that their agents distort information about his assets with a "total lack of rigor."

For Koldo García's defense, this elite unit of the Civil Guard has reached "conclusions that exceed their functions, erring in them and making statements that suffer from a total lack of rigor, without any foundation or documentation to support them," in its latest report regarding his client.

In his opinion, the police assistance unit of the Central Court of Instruction number 2 of the National Court makes "a narrative of facts with distortions of reality and biased interpretations" in which no evidence or grounds are presented to support "that alleged cause-effect relationship of the signed contracts and the consequent increase in wealth."

The lawyer of the former ministerial advisor begins his document, to which Europa Press has had access, by pointing out that it is "irrelevant" for the purpose of the report to include the commercial companies in which he held positions. He believes that this does not help the primary purpose of the UCO report, which is, in his opinion, to determine the attributable wealth before and after the date of the investigated contracts.

Thus, he believes that it makes no sense to explain that he was a proxy of Serramar Vigilancia y Seguridad from 1999 to 2019 and clarifies that this company ceased its activity in 2003. He adds that what is intended to be suggested is that holding the position translates into a tangible and economically valuable asset, but he argues that this information is "unnecessary and little or not at all relevant." He also criticizes that it is noted as part of his wealth "no more and no less than the entity Renfe Mercancías Sociedad Mercantil Estatal S.A."

Regarding the movable assets included in the report, the vehicles of both Koldo García and his family, he recalls that the UCO concludes that he went from having assets worth an average of 920 euros to currently owning vehicles valued at least 63,186 euros. For the defense, this conclusion "could not be further from reality" and is "absurd" because "he has not made a lavish expenditure on the acquisition of vehicles."

He indicates that in reality, Koldo García has bought two cars: a second-hand Peugeot 508 in 2021 and a Hyundai also 14 years old. Regarding the wife of the former advisor and Koldo García's brother, the defense highlights that she only acquired a Kia Niro model car for 28,000 euros (for which a loan of 20,883 euros was requested), "being one of the most modest electric vehicles on the market," while the brother acquired a Harley Davidson motorcycle valued at 21,900 euros.

On the other hand, the document indicates that the UCO, of the five vehicles they had before March 2020, "only values one" because there is no reference for the other four that allows their valuation. "It is simply playing with people's intelligence, said with absolute respect, but we believe it must be said," he adds.

Thus, he argues that if those four vehicles had been valued, "there would not be such a notable increase in wealth that the UCO wants to make believe has existed." "Misinterpreted or intentionally interpreted information is a very useful tool to mask the reality of things," he points out.