The judge of the 'Neurona case' files the investigation for Podemos and Juan Carlos Monedero

He says that it is not appropriate to act against the party as a legal entity and that there is no indication that Monedero intervened with the consulting firm.

The judge in charge of the so-called 'Neurona case' has agreed to archive the investigation he was directing against Podemos - as a legal entity - and against the co-founder of the party Juan Carlos Monedero, considering that it is not possible to attribute criminal responsibility to the political party and the verify that there are no indications that the leader brokered the 363,000 euro contract that the party signed with Neurona for the campaign for the April 2019 general elections.

In a first order, to which Europa Press has had access, Judge Juan José Escalonilla has agreed to remove Podemos from the procedure in which an alleged electoral crime was attributed to it, specifically a crime of illegal financing, because "the possible criminal liability of said political party".

In a second order, to which this news agency has also had access, the investigating magistrate has assured that "there are no indications that Juan Carlos Monedero intermediated or had any participation in the contracting carried out by Unidas Podemos on February 27 of 2019 with the company Neurona Comunidad S.L., nor therefore with the electoral consulting work carried out based on said contract by Neurona Consulting SA de CV".

Monedero was listed as a defendant in the procedure for an invoice issued on December 30, 2018 for a value of $30,000 for "300 hours of face-to-face consulting in Buenos Aires, Mexico and Colombia" for which he received an income on January 25, 2019. bank of 26,200.31 euros from Neurona Consulting.

The head of the Court of Instruction Number 42 of Madrid has finally agreed to the file after last February Monedero's defense, led by the lawyer Antonio Segura, asked him to exonerate him from the investigation since the Central Unit report The Cybercrime Department of the National Police ruled out that he manipulated the emails containing the invoice of 26,200 euros - which he issued to the consulting firm - for which he was being investigated.

Both the judge and the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) of the Police believed that it was a false invoice that would cover up an alleged commission that Monedero would have received for his alleged intermediation so that Podemos hired the Spanish subsidiary of Neurona Consulting - -Neurona Comunidad-- for the general elections held on April 28, 2019.

But Monedero insisted that after the procedures carried out it was "clarified that the payment in question could not have been an intermediation, since on the date of writing the invoice, the holding of general elections was not even planned."

Now, the judge has recognized that from the authenticity of the Monedero emails "it can be inferred, firstly, the authenticity of the invoice" prepared by the leader "and secondly, that the money transfer received on January 25, 2019 was "corresponded to the payment of consulting services carried out during 2018 to said Mexican company."

Cybercrime agents issued a report - to which Europa Press had access - in which they explained that Monedero "does not have the capacity to modify an email that has already been sent", given that "this data is stored in services managed by Google to which that users do not have access (...) beyond being able to send or receive".

In his statement dated March 15, 2021, Monedero denied that the invoice in question was false and attributed the errors it contained to the fact that he is not an expert in making invoices. That same day he provided some 'emails' with a Mexican Neurona partner, which included the trips made and the hours of work attributable to each one, and an attached document called an 'invoice'. He also gave a history of the tickets issued in his name by Iberia in 2018 that included flights to Mexico, Colombia and Argentina.

ONE REPORT IS STILL PENDING

After the judge's decision to archive the procedure for Podemos and Monedero, a ruling on the rest of those investigated - party and consulting firm personnel - is still pending.

At the beginning of the year, Escalonilla ruled out extending the investigation period. He recalled that in July of last year he issued an order in which he agreed that the investigations would not be extended because he concluded that there were no more procedures to carry out.

At the moment, the expert report that the judge commissioned almost two years ago on the costs of the services provided by Neurona to Podemos is the only procedure that remains pending in the investigation.

It is expected that once said report is provided to the procedure, the head of the Court will decide whether to file it or whether, in view of new evidence collected in said document, resume the investigation.