Lieutenant General Jarava tried to prevent the Internal Affairs investigation into the 'barracks case' in 2017

It was reactivated in May 2018 after an anonymous letter was sent to the Secretary of State for Security regarding works in the Ávila Command

MADRID, 14 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

In 2017, Lieutenant General of the Civil Guard Pedro Vázquez Jarava tried to prevent the investigation by the Internal Affairs Service into alleged irregularities in works in barracks, the same case in which he is currently charged. The investigation was reactivated in May 2018, days before the change of government due to the motion of censure, after an anonymous letter reached the Secretary of State for Security that affected hiring of the Ávila Command.

According to documentation consulted by Europa Press, in May 2017 Vázquez Jarava internally proposed to close the investigation on the understanding that "there was no indication of a crime", for which reason "it was not necessary to notify the Prosecutor's Office".

According to sources from the investigation, the Internal Affairs Service had asked the leadership of the Civil Guard to refer to the Prosecutor's Office the investigations initiated on the builder Ángel Ramón Tejera de León, 'Mon', also accused in the investigation currently directed by the Court of Instruction number 3 of Madrid.

In this case, the alleged bites of 'Mon' in favor of Vázquez Jarava, who was in charge of the General Support Subdirectorate between 2015 and the beginning of 2018, are being investigated. Specifically, he was able to benefit from trips and hotel stays with his family, as stated in the summary.

The aforementioned sources add that Vázquez Jarava's report in which he ruled out "indications of crime" led the then director general of the Civil Guard, José Manuel Holgado -the last of Mariano Rajoy's governments- to first order moment that the information was not forwarded to the Prosecutor's Office.

Specifically, in April 2017, four copies of a document entitled "Draft Prosecutor Report" prepared by Internal Affairs, referring to the increase in contracts awarded by different units of the Civil Guard to the businessman Ángel Ramón Tejera de León, 'Mon', "as well as indications of illegality".

In May 2017, Lieutenant General Vázquez Jarava, who was in the command leadership of the Civil Guard as ultimately responsible for the works in barracks, issued a reply in which he made reference to the fact that "by understanding that in the actions informed there is no indication of a crime, it is not necessary to transfer the Internal Affairs Services report to the Prosecutor's Office".

In December 2017, the general director of the Civil Guard, José Manuel Holgado, appointed at the proposal of the Minister of the Interior, Juan Ignacio Zoido, issued a resolution ordering the filing of the Internal Affairs file related to the increase in the turnover of the contractor's companies Ángel Ramón Tejera, "as well as the cessation of the proceedings".

The investigation into the works in barracks was restarted on May 29, 2018, days before the motion of censure that brought Pedro Sánchez to the Government. That day, an email from the Operations Section of the General Staff of the General Directorate of the Civil Guard has entered, attaching an anonymous letter received at the Secretary of State for Security that recounts alleged irregularities in terms of recruitment at the Ávila Command .

In the reports that appear in the summary, Internal Affairs maintains that during Vázquez Jarava's time as head of the General Support Subdirectorate there was "an exponential and apparently unusual increase" in the awarding of works" to 'Mon', "both in invoiced amounts as in affected territorial units".

Key in the investigation was the statement made before a court in Ávila by Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Alonso, also charged in this case for a crime of document falsification, since he recognized that there were works awarded to the businessman known as 'Mon' --who appears in conversations also of the 'Mediator case'-- by indications of Vázquez Jarava.

The indications point to possible irregularities worth 3.3 million euros in 13 Civil Guard headquarters, although the investigation is waiting to complete an expert opinion on these works, mostly waterproofing and painting.