The judge of the National Court Manuel García-Castellón will be in charge of supervising the procedure that the European Prosecutor’s Office has launched for the contracts for the supply of masks in the Koldo case in the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands in view of the possible use of European funds in the financing of these purchases.
The head of the Central Court of Instruction 6, current for being the investigator of the Tsunami case, which has led to the indictment of the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont for terrorism, has been appointed judge of guarantees in these proceedings of the European Prosecutor’s Office for the turn of distribution of the National Court, legal sources have informed EFE.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office announced this Monday that it has opened an investigation into the purchases of medical supplies in the midst of a pandemic by the Health Service of the Canary Islands for around 12 million euros, and by the Health Service of the Balearic Islands for a total of 3.7 million euros.
The investigation is directed by alleged crimes of embezzlement of public funds, prevarication and influence peddling in relation to those contracts of the public health services of the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands, which were awarded in both cases to the company Soluciones de Gestión, on which the plot of the Koldo case pivots.
After receiving a complaint from an individual, the European Prosecutor’s Office carried out various measures aimed at verifying its competence, such as collecting additional information from the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and the Central Court number 2, which is investigating the Koldo case, as well as from the different organizations in charge of manage EU financing.
The function of the guarantee judge, a figure that exists in systems in which the criminal investigation is directed by the prosecutor, is merely testimonial, since there is no access to the procedure.
According to article 8 of law 9/2021 for the creation of the European Prosecutor’s Office, the guarantee judge only intervenes in the event that a restrictive measure of fundamental rights is wanted to be adopted, such as telephone tapping or precautionary measures for those investigated, or also if any appeal is filed against the decrees of the European Delegated Prosecutor. You may also agree to open an oral trial or dismiss the case.
In Spain, the National Court is the competent body to supervise the investigations of the European Prosecutor’s Office, appointing a judge of guarantees, except when they are directed against an authorized person, who in that case must be appointed from among the magistrates of the Supreme Court or the Superior Court of Justice. corresponding, if the assessment is before that body, it is before that judicial body.
