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The judge of 'Mediator' sent the general to prison for payments of the plot and finding him 61,000 euros "of illegal origin"

He believes that if he had remained free he could have "frustrated the investigation".

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The judge of 'Mediator' sent the general to prison for payments of the plot and finding him 61,000 euros "of illegal origin"

He believes that if he had remained free he could have "frustrated the investigation"

MADRID, 1 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Magistrate María de los Ángeles Lorenzo-Cáceres, who is instructing the 'Mediator case', agreed to the provisional prison communicated and without bail for the investigated Civil Guard general, Francisco Espinosa, with the aim of preventing him from hiding or destroying evidence, because to remain free "could frustrate the police investigation" and to "remove the risk of flight". She verifies payments for the plot and ensures that more than 60,000 euros were found at her home of "illegal origin".

This is stated in the order of February 16, to which Europa Press has had access, and in which the judge points out that Espinosa in his court appearance recognized the meetings, meals and trips to Fuerteventura and Las Palmas that he would have been paid for. "She has also partially recognized that she had requested prepaid cards, and has denied having received money, but the money found would respond to those payments in b and of dubious origin, in view of the patrimonial investigation," adds the judge.

In this sense, and to tie the general's ties to businessmen linked to the plot, the judge considers that procedures should continue to be carried out such as the summons of "key witnesses" -businessmen, ranchers and public officials-, the cloning of their multiple devices and the request to the FIIAP.

He also recalls that in the search of his home in Madrid, bundles of 50 and 200 euro bills for an amount of 61,110 euros "of illegal origin" were found.

In the review that the magistrate makes of the case in the order, it includes that Espinosa would have made "use of the personal relationships that he would have with relevant people from the public and business sector in the Canary Islands" and that his participation in the plot criminal was "essential" for those contacts and for "the ability to transmit confidence to the different businessmen in the achievement of their illicit purposes."

It is within this intention that he received businessmen in his office of the General Command of the Civil Guard on Guzmán el Bueno street (Madrid), which brought "seriousness and power" to the criminal plot. These influences "were not altruistic" and the judge notes that the "mediator" Marcos Antonio Navarro Tacoronte recounted in court that they were in exchange for "parties or income."

Going into the indications that fall on the general, the judge collects several milestones. One is Espinosa's relationship with businessman Antonio Bautista, who was offered important contracts in the private sector and access to public subsidies. The first meeting with him was on September 14, 2022.

In return, Bautista paid for a flight to Fuerteventura for Espinosa and his lover, who he paid for two nights at the Eurostars Las Salinas Hotel. In addition, the general would have demanded as a "non-negotiable premise" to exert his influence that he hire his sentimental partner, Adelaida. The magistrate says that according to police reports, Espinosa also received cash, numerous gifts, prepaid cards and other leisure expenses.

In those agreements between Espinosa and Bautista there was a promise to achieve a contract of 35 million euros in Cape Verde, of which 10 percent should be for the general. It should be remembered that during his last stage in his body he was director of the Rapid Action Groups for surveillance and intervention in the Sahel (GARSI Sahel) until his retirement.

The order includes that the general used that position within the framework of the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Public Administration and Policies (FIIAPP) to offer these private contracts to businessmen. And he cites the case of José Suárez Estévez --alias 'El Drones'--, who would have been awarded in different contests in the Sahel.