Eduardo Zaplana’s former driver stated this Tuesday in his statement as a witness in the Erial case that he brought the former minister and former president of the Generalitat a dozen envelopes until his arrest in 2018, which were normally given to him by his secretary, Mitsuoko Henríquez.
This witness, who works as a taxi driver, has explained that he came into contact with Zaplana through a relative of his who acted as an escort for the former minister.
After a test, he was hired as a weekend driver. He kept Zaplana’s Audi Q7 in a garage he rented and was paid in cash through his secretary Mitsuoko.
He explained that the work orders came through Zaplana’s secretary, never in person, and that she used to take him to Cartagena, Alicante or Barcelona when required.
This witness has explained that he does not know what the envelopes contained, nor did he ask.
Initially he stated that he had brought several envelopes, but later, when questioned by Zaplana’s lawyer, he said that he only remembered having brought two envelopes and that they probably contained train tickets.
It was not until after being warned by the president of the court of the possibility of incurring a crime of false testimony that he admitted that he transported a dozen envelopes and that he did not know their contents.
Another of the witnesses cited by the Prosecutor’s Office this Tuesday was the weekend janitor of the building on Núñez de Balboa Street, where Zaplana lived in Madrid.
He has assured that he never saw anyone enter or leave 2ºB, which according to the Prosecutor’s Office was property of the former minister, and that he only had proof that he could have lived there from some notes that the previous doorman gave him in which he put the name of Eduardo Zaplana with the company Costera del Glorio, owned by his friend Joaquín Barceló.
This witness has confirmed that in that building there is no elevator that connects the portal with the garage, but rather you have to take a freight elevator that goes to the first floor.
Another of the witnesses, a worker at the Altea marina (Alicante), has linked Eduardo Zaplana with a boat called Loix, about which she would have sent him some documentation.
Along the same lines, the captain of this boat has said it was directly the former minister who hired him to skipper it.
Three former employees of Sedesa’s advertising and communication departments have also appeared as witnesses, who have agreed to point out that they do not know nor have they had contact with the Dobles Figuras firm or its administrator, Juan Francisco García – Zaplana’s former chief of staff. , which according to the summary billed the Cotino family business for supposedly non-existent services.
The last witness to testify this Tuesday was the former deputy, former member of Eduardo Zaplana’s Presidency cabinet and current commissioner for the fight against violence against women, Felipe del Baño.
When questioned by the prosecutor, he admitted that he was invited to sail by Zaplana on the coasts of France, Italy and Croatia, along with other “friends and political acquaintances”, although he did not remember the exact dates or the name of the boat. .
The first lawyer of the former Imelsa manager and self-proclaimed ‘money junkie’, Marcos Benavent, was also summoned, in whose office the Civil Guard found the documentation that gave rise to the case against Zaplana. A medical appointment has prevented him from attending the hearing and he is expected to do so tomorrow.
