Sánchez is denounced for false testimony about his relationship with Barrabés

An association accuses the President of the Government of lying about his relationship with Juan Carlos Barrabés. The European Association of Citizens Against Corruption (AECC) has expanded the complaint it filed in May against Pedro Sanchez. It is the second time he has done it, since In August he was charged with a possible crime of embezzlement for using public resources in his complaint against the magistrate investigating his wife. In the new text, registered this Monday before the Supreme Courtstates that he could also have committed a crime of false testimony when he assured the judge who had no relationship with the Aragonese businessman.

Sánchez appeared before Peinado on July 30 in Moncloa. It was the first time that a sitting Prime Minister testified before a judge. The scene barely lasted two minutes.. The socialist leader, who testified as a witness in the case against his wife, took advantage of his right not to testify after recognizing his emotional relationship with Begoña Gómez. However, He assured that he had no relationship with the other two defendants.: the rector of the Complutense University, Joaquín Goyache, and Barrabés.

As the audio of Sánchez’s statement revealsto which this newspaper had access, Peinado informs him that he is going to ask him If you have any type of relationship with any of the three people investigated. «The first is called Begoña Gómez. With this person you have some type of relationship, kinship, friendship, enmity…”, the judge questions him. The President of the Government responds forcefully that it is his wife.

Sánchez’s statement

Next, the judge asks him if he has any relationship with Barrabés and Goyache, to which the President of the Government responds briefly in the negative. Peinado takes the floor again and explains to Sánchez that You are exempt from declaring anything that could harm your partner.. However, it offers him the possibility of answering questions about the other two investigated, although he insists on taking advantage of his right not to testify under the protection of the article 416 of the Criminal Procedure Law (LECrim).

The AECC highlights in the expansion of the complaint, which has had access THE OBJECTIVEwhich Sánchez ran into contradictions during his brief statement. Accuses the president of an alleged crime of false testimony, included in the article 458 of the Penal Code. The precept states that “the witness who fails to tell the truth in his testimony in a judicial case will be punished with prison terms of six months to two years and a fine of three to six months.

Article 460 of the Penal Code insists that “when the witness, without substantially violating the truth, alter it with reluctance, inaccuracies or by silencing relevant facts or data that were known to youwill be punished with a fine of six to 12 months and, where appropriate, suspension from employment or public office, profession or trade of six months to three years. The criminal lawyers consulted by this newspaper recognize that The complaint has few signs of success..

The association assures in its writing that the President of the Government met on several occasions with Juan Carlos Barrabes in Moncloa and even “He praised his company at a public event to present the Aragon Recovery Plan”. The businessman himself admitted to Peinado that he had gone to the official residence “four or five times” and “always by invitation”.

Barrabés in Moncloa

Barrabés stated before the judge that he went to Moncloa several times to see Begoña “for the subject of the master’s degree”in whose preparation he participated. The businessman assured that he also went to see Sánchez “once or twice”. These meetings were held because the President of the Government “was making a round with companies and wanted to know my opinion on how innovation was in Spain.” Among those present were Manuel de la Rocha, director of the Office of Economic Affairs and G-20.

The complainants recall in their writing that Sánchez already praised Barrabés’ company on January 22, 2021 during an event to present the Aragon Recovery Plan. «The Barrabés group, which I have also had the opportunity to get to know in person, and which we already know started from a family mountain equipment business in Benasque, has given rise to a large conglomerate of companies that provide services of all kinds: consulting, advisory, training, communication,” said the President of the Government.

Sánchez also highlighted an initiative that the Barrabés group launched in March 2020, the free platform Attitude Academywhich served “to help SMEs digitize their workforces and operations during this health emergency”. The AECC maintains in its extension of the complaint that Sánchez “has visited the Huesca municipality of Benasque on several occasions, where Barrabés owns an important mountain equipment store”, although his last visit would have been “in January 2018”.

The association led by Manuel Romeral on May 20, he filed a complaint against Sánchez and his wifewhom he accuses of crimes such as influence peddling, complicity by omission and concealment. He extended it on August 6, considering that the President of the Government had committed a crime of embezzlement by using the State Attorney’s Office in his complaint against Peinado. The Supreme Court is studying whether to admit it for processing, although sources from the high court maintain that it is a common procedure and that 97% are inadmissible.

Sánchez’s wife acquired the status of being investigated on April 16when Peinado opened proceedings against her for alleged crimes of business corruption and influence peddling. The judge ordered that he be notified, something that happened on April 24, the same day that the President of the Government wrote his famous “letter to citizens” in which he announced that he was taking a period of reflection to continue in office and in which Begoña Gómez’s lawyer signed the letter of appearance.