The Balearic president Marga Prohens has announced that the regional government will appear as a private prosecutor in the case opened in the National Court that investigates the alleged collection of commissions on the purchase of masks by companies linked to the then advisor of former minister José Luis Ábalos. The Balearic Government, then chaired by the current president of Congress, the socialist Francina Armengol, signed a contract of 3.7 million euros with the company Soluciones de Gestión y Apoyo a las Empresas, the main one investigated in the case.
The contract was made in the middle of the pandemic, on April 25, 2020, through the negotiated procedure without publicity. The socialists affirm that the purchase proposal came to them through the Ministry of Development, which informed them that there was the possibility of obtaining this material, but they do not clarify who made it and who was the interlocutor in the Balearic Islands. They do not reveal if it was the former minister himself who spoke with Armengol.
Shortly after the masks arrived, it was discovered that the material, 1.4 million masks, was not what had been requested since it did not meet the required technical conditions. 2.5 euros were paid per mask when, due to its technical qualities, the price should have been 0.42 euros for each one of them. That meant an extra cost of about 2.6 million euros for some masks that were useless in a Health Service warehouse, which were never used and which have also already expired.
The Balearic president has asked for prudence and caution, but has announced that both the Health Department and the Balearic Attorney’s Office understand that there are more than enough elements for the Balearic Government to appear in the case as a private accusation as an affected party. Prohens has announced that the Balearic Islands will demand the return of the 3.7 million euros paid, not just the 2.6 million euros in extra costs. “We have the responsibility and the will to analyze everything and collaborate with the justice system to answer all the questions that citizens ask,” she said this Monday.
The previous Government initiated the procedure to demand the return of the overpaid money, but the resolution was not signed until July 6, 2023, precisely the same day that the Balearic Parliament elected Prohens as president. The Armengol Government took more than three years to make the claim since it knew since June 8, 2020 that the masks were defective.
Added to all this is that on July 19, 2022, that is, almost a year before the refund was requested, Civil Guard agents appeared at the Health Service offices to claim the contract with the company. masks. The agents acted under the orders of the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Corruption and Organized Crime. Despite this, the Balearic Government still took almost a year to start the process of claiming the money.
The former Balearic president has not yet given any explanations, which has earned her the reproach of the ‘popular’ in the islands, who denounce Armengol’s “complicit silence.” Vox has already announced that it will request the creation of an investigative commission to resolve all doubts about this case. The PP has not yet said whether or not it will vote in favor.
