The judge extends the investigation into the commission of the Pérez Maura to Villarejo for six months

It will await the analysis of a large number of emails from the company of the investigated commissioner to which Internal Affairs may already have access

MADRID, 2 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The judge of the National Court that investigates the 'Villarejo case', Manuel García Castellón, has agreed to extend the investigation for six months in the piece related to the alleged assignment of the shipping companies Ángel and Álvaro Pérez Maura to the retired commissioner José Manuel Villarejo to avoid the extradition of the former to Guatemala to give Internal Affairs time to analyze a significant amount of emails from the CENYT Group --company belonging to the ex-police officer-- to which they finally have access.

In an order of January 25, to which Europa Press has had access, the chief magistrate of the Central Investigating Court number 6 indicates that "in this case there are circumstances that lead us to consider that the current investigation period is insufficient for the end of the investigation", and is based on a report from the Public Prosecutor's Office to destroy the claim of the defense of the commissioner, who was interested in concluding the investigations.

García Castellón reviews the pending issues in the case, noting, for example, that the investigators from the Internal Affairs Unit have sent a letter, dated January 18, in which they report that "they have the necessary technology to access to the files in .pst format, related to emails from the CENYT Group, with which they will proceed to their immediate analysis".

The judge indicates that this communication from Internal Affairs, which affects all the separate pieces of the 'Villarejo case', opens the door to study "a large amount of documentation and information", and that from this analysis it is likely that they will come to light "relevant aspects in this separate piece".

On the other hand, the magistrate indicates that the expert opinion from the Tax Agency has not yet been received, which is "fundamental to determine the scope of the crimes against the Public Treasury that are investigated in this procedure", and warns that this circumstance would already justify , by itself, the need for the extension.

But add to this that to date the international letter of request sent to Guatemala by order of April 2021 has not been fully completed. Specifically, it points out that it has not received all the documentation concerned, "which is of great volume, so its analysis and study will require special attention".

It adds that the statement as investigated by the company 'Pérez y CÍA.' also remains to be carried out, and warns that it could happen that after that appearance the remaining parties would be interested in carrying out new proceedings.

The starting point of this separate piece of the 'Villarejo case', called 'Pit', is located in 2016, when Guatemala asked Spain to hand over Pérez Maura, accused of paying bribes of up to 30 million dollars to high-ranking officials in the country. Ibero-American, including former president Otto Pérez Molina and his vice president Roxana Baldetti, to obtain the award of an infrastructure in Puerto Quetzal.

According to the judicial account, the Pérez Maura would have then gone to Villarejo to stop Ángel's extradition. For this commission, baptized as 'Pit' -hence the name of the separate piece-, the business group of the then curator, CENYT, would have pocketed 7.4 million euros.

At first, the Spanish investigation focused on 'Pit', but when the National Court rejected in 2018 the extradition of Pérez Maura to Guatemala for being a Spanish citizen, it opened the door for him to be tried in Spain for the crimes he was accused of there. .

In response, the head of the Central Court of Instruction Number 6 assumed in April 2021 the case directed in the Latin American country against Pérez Maura for alleged crimes of illicit association, fraud and bribery to conclude the investigation phase and, where appropriate, proceed to trial.