The judge of the alleged 'crypto scam' Kuailian refuses to step aside and censures the "delay" tactic of the main defendant

He maintains that admitting the challenge would be leaving the independence of the judge in the hands of the "unwillingness" of the parties

MADRID, 10 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The judge of the National Court (AN) Joaquín Gadea, who is investigating the alleged scam with cryptocurrencies of the Kuailian platform, has rejected the challenge presented by the founder and main defendant, David Ruiz de León, to remove him from the case. The instructor understands that this claim seeks to "delay" the procedure.

The alleged pyramid scheme of Kuailian, whose investigation has been extended by the judge until March 2023, would have left more than 65,000 affected and some 500 million euros of economic damage.

In a car to which Europa Press has had access, the reinforcement magistrate of the Central Court of Instruction Number 6 considers that the causes of recusal alleged by the accused are "uncertain", do not have "argument support" and "are part of a strategy procedural defense aimed at delaying the processing of the procedure, deliberately seeking to remove the instructor".

To challenge the investigating judge, Ruiz de León alleged that there is a complaint against Gadea in the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, a complaint filed by someone who would be a representative of the investigated.

The judge responds in his order that the complaint was filed this summer, "more than a year after" the Kuailian case began and "just after" the instructor "issued the resolutions ordering the search for the appellants due to their failure to appear in judicial headquarters" and requested by accusations such as Aránguez Abogados. It should be remembered that Ruiz de León has not appeared to testify twice this year, arguing that he lives outside of Spain, in the United Arab Emirates.

For the judge, the attitude of Ruiz de León and his partner, Cristian Albeiro, who has not appeared either, is of an "obstative will" and explains that in order to prosper the challenge, the complaint should have been made before the investigation began in the AN on Kuailian and so far it has not led to the opening of criminal proceedings. And he also reproaches Ruiz de León for filing that complaint against him without "factual and documentary support that makes it plausible."

Next, Gadea recalls that shortly after the complaint was filed, the Police informed the court of an attempt at "influence peddling, bribery or blackmail" in a message sent to a commissioner by someone who presented himself as a representative of the challengers.

In an official letter to which this news agency had access, the Police collected telephone messages from that representative, who offered to withdraw the complaint if the commissioner makes a new report telling the judge that there is no crime so that the investigation is archived and they return a million dollars that is blocked.

According to the judge, this complaint by Ruiz de León intends to "prefabricate a cause for recusal" with the sole purpose of removing him as an instructor in the case. "Admitting the challenge would be, ultimately, leaving the principle of independence and irremovability of the natural judge in the hands of the bad will of the parties involved, in an interpretation of the rule in fraud of law," says Gadea.

In the April 2021 order that began the judicial investigation, Gadea explained that Kuailian is a cryptocurrency investment system based in Estonia but operating from Spain. "The attraction of new investors would feed the base of the pyramid, allowing the return and payment of profits to the initial investors, without the operation responding to a real business", she indicated.

The four defendants advertised the investment platform through social networks offering a product called 'kuais' with a 1,000-day contract. Those interested invested in the so-called 'kuais' with the 'ethereum' cryptocurrency, although for this they had to have a wallet with that type of alternative currency.