The chief of staff of Christopher Montoro in the Ministry of Finance, Felipe Martínez Rico, sent the “minister” an email on February 10, 2015 in which he included tax information from Podemos co-founder Juan Carlos Monedero. This is stated in an ’email’, to which this editorial team has had access, and which is included in the case that the Tarragona judge is secretly investigating. Ruben Rus Vela. This magistrate tries to determine, with the support of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Carmen García Cerdáif those responsible for the consulting firm Equipo Economico, founded Montoro in 2006, used their “influences” in the PP Government to benefit their clients.
“Minister, for your information. I have marked in yellow what is relevant. I have asked for additional information to clarify. For now, they are going to prepare a file, and we will send it to you before transferring it to MEYSS [Ministerio de Empleo y Seguridad Social]”says the message, which is addressed to an official email address of the Ministry of Finance whose heading is “aromero.”
Sources of the Tarragona procedure emphasize to this newspaper that “Romero” is the second surname of the former ministerso they defend that it is a message aimed at Cristobal Montoro Romero. This newspaper has addressed the former head of the Treasury, who has not responded to the questions submitted.
Chief of staff
The message from Felipe Martínez Rico, brother of the executive president of the Equipo Economico office, Ricardo Martínez Rico, who was also Montoro’s chief of staff and who is now one of the four investigated in the casewas sent four days after the press reported that Monedero, then responsible for Podemos’ electoral program, had paid 200,000 euros to the Tax Agency to avoid a sanction and the corresponding tax crime.
“They have been analyzing Monedero’s untimely presentations,” the email from Montoro’s chief of staff sent to the “minister” expressly states, which then highlights that “the inactive company does not present complementary ones, but nevertheless Your checking account has been moving. There is some type of undeclared fraud“.
On January 29, 2015, Monedero had paid the Tax Agency 200,000 euros corresponding to the 2013 personal income tax for the income of 425,150 euros that at the end of that year it had invoiced through its production company to the Governments of Bolivia, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Ecuador . And that same January 29, 2015, Monedero challenged Montoro at a rally in Leganés (Madrid): “I’m not afraid of you. I have my accounts in good order and paid all my taxes.“said the co-founder of Podemos.
“Resistance Box”
In the email to which this newspaper has had access, Martínez Rico informs the “minister” that “the personal income tax declaration” of the then number three of Podemos “is made by invoice issued by Monedero to Caja de Resistencia for an amount of 368,000 euros (with 9% withholding). He also maintains that “Monedero declares the VAT of the operation in the amount of 77,280 euros“.
But what seems “most important” to Montoro’s chief of staff in the Ministry of Finance is that “in 2014 withholdings he provides us with black payments to his interns, who are registered as false self-employed workers. An important part of they are very clear employed workers of Producciones Mano Izquierda (La Tuerka) whose payroll is entered by Monedero through Caja de Resistencia“.
The ’email’ addressed to the “minister” ends with a proposal from Martínez Rico about the next step for the Treasury: “We must prepare an information sheet with tax significance (FITT) and Send it to the Labor Inspection to register them (the poor interns) in the general regime with which liquidation would be carried out in Social Security”.
Rato, Aguirre and a journalist
As this newspaper exclusively announced, the Tarragona case also includes an email that shows that the Tax Agency opened a tax inspection ‘Abc’ journalist Javier Chicote after he reported on alleged irregularities committed by the firm, which was created in 2006 under the name “Montoro y Asociados”, which in 2008 was renamed “Economic Team” and which since 2016 has been called “Global Afteli”.
In this message about Chicote, dated September 26, 2017, a Treasury inspector announced to the then general director of the Tax Agency, Santiago Menendezand the head of the National Fraud Investigation Office (ONIF), Luis María Sánchez Gonzálezwhich was going to “send an information sheet with tax significance (FITT) to Madrid for uploading in an Inspection plan” against the informant.
The Tarragona case also includes messages regarding the former vice president of the Government Rodrigo Rato and the former president of Madrid Esperanza Aguirre, revealed by this editorial team. The latter has demanded in an interview given to this newspaper that the emails included in the Tarragona case that refer to her be investigated.
Alejandro Luzon
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The former president of the Madrid PP made these statements after learning that the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office rejected prosecutors that took place on September 26 that these messages had criminal relevance. A majority of them (19 against 5) supported the decision of the head of the department, Alejandro Luzonto reject the request of the prosecutor in the case, Carmen García Cerdáwhich sought to delve into the investigation of the content of the messages of senior Treasury officials to determine if they could be charged with a crime of revealing secrets.
In the Tarragona case, which was opened in 2018 and has remained secret since then, Montoro’s former chief of staff, Ricardo Martínez Rico, is being investigated; but also the managing partners of the firm Manuel de Vicente-Tutor and Salvador Ruiz Gallud. The latter came to direct the Tax Agency between 2001 and 2004. This newspaper has unsuccessfully claimed the version of the events of the executives investigated in the Tarragona court. Former Minister Montoro has always assured that he left the law firm in 2008.