Medina's defense accuses the Madrid City Council of wanting to give a « ball » when trying to « confiscate » his commission | Spain

Luis Medina's defense has been launched to the back cover this Thursday at the Provincial Court of Madrid, where the son of the deceased nine Six million euros were pocketed in commissions through the sale of sanitary material. Medina's lawyer, José Antonio Choclán, has lashed out at the main thesis that the Prosecutor's Office maintains – which entrepreneurs scored the Consistory by hiding that they would stay part of the money. « There is no legal obligation to inform, » he insisted, before attacking the Consistory for « believing » that they acted « altruistic. » But, even, the lawyer has gone further and has denounced that the local administration is the one who now wants to give “a ball”: « Isn't it a ball for the City Council to keep the intermediaries commission? » He has asked.

« The City Council has no right to confiscate the commissions that have charged the intermediaries of the supplier, be it of the amount that they are, » said Choclán, renowned criminal and former magistrate of the National Court, in their final allegation. « The buyer is indifferent if there is a commercial margin, which is supposed to be in every product, » he excused: « What marks commercial uses is not to say the commissions and not say who the seller is so that they do not skip the intermediary. » “Why do we care who has taken that margin and how much? That is irrelevant to the buyer, ”he said, before insinuating that the accusation against Medina is promoted because he is a“ public character ”:“ Is that what matters to us? ”, He added.

About 14.00 on Thursday, Judge Ángela Acevedo, who chairs the court, has declared the trial seen for sentence after eight sessions. The two accused have resigned to exercise their right to the last word.

Medina's defense has thus deployed all its weapons to throw down the arguments of the Anti -Corruption Prosecutor's Office, which claims nine years in jail for Medina for scam and documentary falsehood; and 15 years for Luceño, who also attributes a fiscal crime. The accusations argue that the son of the Duke of Fair and his partner contacted in March 2020 with the City Council (then desperate before the « imperative need » he had to obtain a sanitary material that was scarce) and made him believe that they would help in a « altruistic » way. According to this thesis, the deception lies in the fact that, by hiding their status as intermediaries with a direct economic interest in the operations, the Consistory thought that the prices that were transferred were more advantageous. However, not only was it not like that, but the commission agents allegedly inflated prices: that of the masks, 60%; that of nitrile gloves, 81%; and that of the tests, 71%.

In that sense, the head of purchases of the City Council during the Pandemia, Elena Collado, pointed in the trial that « both » told him « on several occasions » that they were not going to collect commissions: « I always understood that (the offer) was selfless and altruistic. In fact, they tried to convince me. ” But Choclán has loaded against her and has assured that she has changed version. Moreover, the lawyer has strived to subtract value from his testimony. The lawyer has stressed that she « inferred that they would not charge commissions. » “She thought another would charge her. Therefore, she recognizes that there was a margin. And the importance is no longer that a commission is charged, but who charges it, ”he said.

« What Collado will think is indifferent to the effects of the criminal type of the scam, » said Medina's defense, which has directed part of his efforts to criticize it to normalize the intervention of the commission agents in the operations under suspicion and the « added value » they contributed. « If the City Council puts an incapable person (at the head of purchases), because it does not know English or any international trade, it needs an instrument, » he said in reference to intermediaries. « They certainly hit a ball, as many others did. »

Choclán has also delimited Medina's intervention in the mask business. « No action regarding the negotiation or determination of prices can be attributable to Luis Medina, » he said. In this regard, about the huge amount of money they took, Luceño's lawyer, Miguel Gala, has apostilled: “Isn't the benefit of the banks rude? If we criminalize the entrepreneur … ” This lawyer has focused on denying the fiscal crime attributed to its client to create a corporate plot to avoid the payment of taxes, by declaring the commissions for the Corporation Tax, when it should have done it through the IRPF. The investigating judge estimated that more than 1.3 million euros was saved.

With those words, the defenses have tried to counteract the conclusions of the six accusations that demand a punishment for the two defendants. The Anti -Corruption Prosecutor's Office, the State Advocacy, the Madrid City Council and the Municipal Funeral Services Company They presented their final reports on Wednesday. And this Thursday, before the interventions of the lawyers of Luceño and Medina, the lawyers of the PSOE and more Madrid (personally as popular accusations) have done the same. Both have lashed out at the two defendants.

« The defendants were agreed by a profit mood, » said the representative of the Socialists: « They saw a golden opportunity, although none had experience in this type of material. » « They induced to error to the town hall staff », who believed that « they were getting a better price. » The PSOE lawyer has described a « papers cast », where Medina was responsible for generating a climate of « closeness » and « trust. » “His role was essential. Without him they would not have accessed the way and way they did to the City Council. Without him there would have been no hiring (…) Medina was the reference for the City Council, so much so that There is an audio where he recognizes that the mayor personally called him to thank him for his intervention. ”

Nuria Zapico, a lawyer from Más Madrid, has delved into the same line: « They said they were not going to collect commissions and made believe that the costs were going to be minor. » « The amounts are scandalous, » the « commissions are indecent, » the lawyer reiterated: « And Luceño cheated his own partner. » Accusations maintain that Both had agreed to a distribution of money Different from the executed and that, even, they could have agreed to divide it into equal parts. But Luceño, who managed the relationship with the company that paid them for intermediation, stayed with five million euros. Medina came a million: « With what has been received, I am satisfied, » repeated the son of the Duke of Fair During your statement in the trialbefore the questions to tell the arranged.