The judge investigating BBVA's assignments to Villarejo summons five bank workers at the end of November

The Chamber urges the magistrate to make a series of statements that the Prosecutor's Office considers "of vital importance and transcendence"

MADRID, 31 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The judge of the National High Court (AN) who is investigating the alleged illegal orders that BBVA would have made to the now retired commissioner José Manuel Villarejo has summoned five workers from the bank to testify as witnesses for November 29 and 30 from 10:15 a.m.

In an order last Thursday, to which Europa Press has had access, the reinforcement magistrate of the Central Court of Instruction Number 6 Joaquín Gadea has agreed to the practice of these testimonies after the Criminal Chamber has partially agreed with the former head of Security of the Julio Corrochano bank.

The magistrates of the Third Section partially estimated on October 20 the appeal filed by Corrochano, to which the anti-corruption prosecutors Miguel Serrano and Alejandro Cabaleiro partially adhered. The Public Prosecutor's Office understood that there were a series of procedures, which have finally been established, that had to be carried out.

The Prosecutor's Office, specifically, pointed out that BBVA workers Beatriz Aguiriano, Clara Codesal and Itziar Ibáñez Loipategui "had direct intervention in the payment of invoices for services provided by CENYT", the Villarejo business group, to the bank.

"According to the internal regulations for their payment, they could only authorize if they had had access to the contract and the correct execution of the service, therefore there are indications that if they were paid, it was in breach of such regulations by orders of their superiors (investigated here). That is why his statement is of vital importance and transcendence," Anti-Corruption argued.

All of them would have also allegedly had "access to the underlying contracts with some control of the execution of the service." Thus, added the Public Ministry, "they could explain if they received any indication from the entity regarding these payments or the meaning of emails related to them."

The Prosecutor's Office extended this justification to request that Isabel López and José Maria Lazarrabal Zabala be called to court as witnesses, "who also had an intervention, apparently not merely administrative, in the payment of bills." "That is why their testimony as witnesses is pertinent," he pointed out.

Thus, the instructor will listen to Codesal, Aguiriano and Ibáñez from 10:15 am on November 29. A day later, at the same time, the magistrate will take a statement from Lazarrabal and López.

This series of statements adds to the round of subpoenas promoted by the magistrate, who will hear Marta Hazen, the director of branch 7384 in 2007, on November 17 at 10:15 a.m. as a witness. That same day the judge Also summoned as witnesses are Francisco Hernández and José Manuel Lorenzo, who will appear at 10:30 and 10:45, respectively.

A day later, on the 18th, the instructor will listen to the witnesses Carlos Barragán and Juan Antonio Prieto, both BBVA workers, starting at 10:15 am. Finally, the magistrate will take a statement that day from 10:30 a.m. from Gloria Arias Calvo.

All these citations will be the prelude to what will be, predictably, the last statement in this separate piece of 'Tándem': that of the former president of BBVA Francisco González. After several changes in the date, the declaration will be held on December 15.

González is being investigated for alleged crimes of bribery and disclosure of secrets. The Criminal Chamber lifted its accusation for unfair administration, upholding the appeal of the former president of BBVA against the judge's decision to follow the criteria of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, which saw this possible illicit in the alleged use of the bank to obtain information about a farm that he was interested in buying privately.

All this within the framework of this piece in which the judge examines BBVA's contracts with the Villarejo business group, CENYT, for different projects --presumably illegal-- at least between 2004 and 2017, some works for which the entity would have paid the commissioner more than 10 million euros.