An ex-charge from the Generalitat assures that he contracted with 'Gürtel' due to the "proximity" of 'El Bigotes' with Camps

Several defendants maintain that there was a split in the contracts: "It was a common practice"

MADRID, 22 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The former chief of staff of the Ministry of Social Welfare of the Generalitat Valenciana Enrique Navarro has assured this Wednesday in the trial for the alleged irregularities in the awards to one of the companies of the 'Gürtel' that his department contracted with the plot for the " proximity" of Álvaro Pérez 'El Bigotes' with former president Francisco Camps and his "friendship" with the former general secretary of the Valencian PP Ricardo Costa.

Navarro, one of the defendants who have reached an agreement in accordance with the Prosecutor's Office, has expressed himself in this way to questions from the Public Ministry in the oral hearing that follows in the National Court for the award to Orange Market, one of the companies of the 'Gürtel', from the contract for the Valencian exhibitor at the Fitur 2009 edition.

The former leader explained that he met 'El Bigotes', the ringleader of the plot in the Valencian Community, through Minister Alicia de Miguel. "In January 2006 he called me into his office and Álvaro Pérez was there. He introduced him to me as a businessman who managed events. I was surprised, because he appeared out of nowhere," he acknowledged.

That astonishment, he has detailed, came from the difficulty involved in "accessing a minister." "It's not easy, there are many filters, different routes. This man had not used any of these means: he came out of nowhere," he insisted, recounting that it was De Miguel's own insistence that led to the signing of contracts with Orange Market.

However, Navarro has assured that he "did not want to personally do events" with 'El Bigotes' because "he was very free" and "did not contribute anything". "The minister came to tell me that she had an important friendship with Ricardo Costa and closeness with Camps. In this way we were at a time when we could continue in the next legislature, renew or not," he explained.

Granting the 'Gürtel' the organization of an act focused precisely on the end of the legislature, was a "way for these gentlemen to get through to Pérez how well" the Department was working. "A way to ingratiate himself. It was a way to launch a hook and see if Mr. Pérez managed to speak well of our Ministry before the Costa", he added.

Prior to this event, Orange Market was also in charge of managing the presentation of the Zero Tolerance Foundation. The Presidency of his board of trustees, Navarro has maintained, was held by Camps himself and "the Ministry wanted the act to go very well."

In this context, the former chief of staff has also recognized that his Ministry cut up the invoices so as not to exceed the limit established for direct contracting. "It was a common practice. It was known that it was a subdivision but not a criminal offense, but an administrative irregularity," he stated.

ORANGE MARKET CONTRACTS WERE SLICED

These illegalities in the contracting have also referred to another of the defendants who has settled with the indictment of the Prosecutor's Office: the former general director of the Book Silvia Caballer. Specifically, she has asserted that from her department the payment of 112.00 euros to Orange Market was divided into five different invoices: four of them were made by herself.

Thus, the prosecutor has questioned Caballer about whether this subdivision was intended to evade legal control. "Now I do know. Then I was not as aware as I am now after having experienced this," said the defendant.

The former CEO has also explained how she came into contact with Orange Market. "'El Bigotes' came to my office to offer his services", she detailed, pointing out that her department was in charge of organizing the first Free Software congress held in the autonomous community. For the second edition, she has continued, she spoke with another of the defendants: Vicente Pablo Farnós.

Farnós, then executive director of Proyecto Cultural Castellón, was in charge of managing the auditorium and the conference center in Castellón, where the second Free Software congress took place. For this purpose, he has acknowledged in his statement, he authorized an invoice for the amount of 64,000 euros from Orange Market.

"She (Caballer) called me to tell me that Castellón was going to host the second Free Software congress. She told me that she needed our collaboration, which was the formalization of sponsorship contracts for the collaborating companies that were exhibiting there. With what she got the bill was paid," he assured.

NO "PERSONAL OR PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIP" WITH CAMPS

For her part, the former general director of Institutional Promotion Dora Ibars has made it clear that she never had "any kind of relationship with Camps." "I have never dispatched anything nor have I had a relationship. I have not been in his office. I have never had a personal or professional relationship. My job was not to relate to him," she has maintained.

Ibars, likewise, has indicated that he did know 'El Bigotes' but not personally. "He was a person who, as soon as you have him by your side, becomes visible because of the way he has to be. But I have not had any meeting, only with Cándido Herrero", he added.

In statements to the media at the end of the oral hearing, Camps referred to the fact that Ibars said that he did not know him. "The Prosecutor's Office has lied from the beginning, because it has been hearing that since 2009. It couldn't be more obvious. What happened here today has become clear," he lamented.

The trial will resume next Monday from 10:00 a.m. with the statement of the rest of the defendants.