Overview
- Testifying before Judge Santiago Pedraz, Carmen Pano said she delivered two bags with €45,000 each to the PSOE’s Ferraz headquarters on Víctor de Aldama’s instructions, a version Aldama rejects.
- Pano stated the money came from businessman Claudio Rivas, adding that a Rivas associate known as “Lolo” brought the second payment and that €10,000 was later made up after a shortfall.
- She told the court her chauffeur, Álvaro Gallego, witnessed the trips to Ferraz; he is scheduled to testify next week as a witness.
- Pano placed Koldo García at a December 28, 2020 meeting with Industry officials from start to finish and said chief of staff Juan Ignacio Díaz Bidart directed that Villafuel’s documentation be routed to him via Koldo; Díaz Bidart’s testimony is slated for early February.
- The UCO-led probe focuses on an alleged scheme to obtain a fuel operator licence for Villafuel linked to a large VAT fraud, with investigators examining purported payments, property transfers and contested references to a PDVSA-linked envelope.