The judge of the National Court Santiago Pedraz has communicated this Wednesday morning to the former CDC official and businessman, David Madí, that he is being investigated for the judicial process opened for the alleged irregular awards to Ambulancias Egara by the Generalitat, according to legal sources consulted by EL PERIÓDICO. The togado has also notified the same status as accused to seven others involved in this alleged plot, including Óscar Simón, one of the company’s managers, and the brothers José Ramón and Manuel Castarlenas, from the consultancy RCM Auditores. The investigations stem from investigations into the ‘3% case’ of alleged payment of illegal commissions to CDC, pending trial, and the ‘Triacom case’, linked to an audiovisual production company. The magistrate has not yet indicated the date of the defendants’ statements, but offers them the possibility of appearing in person to learn about the judicial process.
Last week, the judge ordered entries and searches at the headquarters of the Egara Ambulance company in Terrassa, at the premises of a temporary union of companies, in Lleida, and at a consultancy in Barcelona, in search of documentation on alleged irregular awards of this service when CDC was in government. Agents of the Mossos d’Esquadra and the Civil Guard participated in the operation. From the outset, the economic movements in this company are being tracked in search of alleged illegal commissions, although it is unknown if towards that formation or towards an individual who acted as a procurer. The sources consulted by this newspaper ensure that the agents seized documentation and cloned computer hard drives. Now they must analyze its content and look for evidence of the alleged anomalies.
The expansion
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The case dates back to 2015, when Ambulancias Egara won three batches of services. The firm was run until then by the brothers Carlos and Oscar Simón. In 2012, always according to the same sources, they tried to make a qualitative leap and bet on expanding throughout Catalonia, when their radius of action until then was the Vallès Occidental region. It was then that the company maintained contacts with David Madí: they were looking for investors. Investigators suspect that the former CDC officer placed men linked to him in the company, although he denies it. These people have also been told that they are being investigated. Since 2015, this company manages the medical transport of CatSalut in Lleida, Camp de Tarragona and Terres de l’Ebre.
The company assures in a statement that “it has always participated in public tenders for medical transport services, complying with all the requirements, on an equal footing with other companies and respecting current legislation.” “Public contracts have been achieved by always participating transparently in the competitions,” they point out.