Yesterday Eduardo Zaplana denied all the crimes charged against him by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office. Before the court that is trying him in Valencia for the Erial case, he denied knowing how the ITV and wind farm concessions were made when he was Valencian president and for which he allegedly collected bribes worth 20 million euros. “I never knew which companies were the winners,” he said. He also denied having ever had, nor having now, money outside of Spain, “and I maintain it.” He also did not acknowledge having participated in companies owned by his front men and friends such as Francisco Grau, Joaquín Barceló or Fernando Belhot: “I do not know those companies nor do I have a relationship with them.” And he even stated that the facts of which he is accused "he knows from the summary." He said, quite the contrary, that his situation “is very unfortunate.”
This was the first time that the former minister and former Valencian president sat as a defendant in a trial in which, among others, former president José Luís Olivas are also accused. He faces a request for a 19-year sentence for the crimes of criminal organization, money laundering, bribery, prevarication and document falsification. His statement lasted three and a half hours and at the end, upon leaving the courts, he said that "I have done what I had to do; whatever has to come, will come." "The trial begins now," he added.
During the investigation, Zaplana refused to testify and yesterday was the first time in which he was able to present his version of facts that indicate that he resorted to instrumental companies to divert bribes abroad, to tax havens. This money would have returned to Spain through real estate operations with these same companies managed by his friends. Regarding whether he was happy to have declared, he noted that "how can I be satisfied after so many years."
Before his interrogation, his lawyer asked the four defendants to testify that they have reached agreements in accordance with the Prosecutor's Office to avoid prison, a fact that may make Zaplana's defense difficult. These are his former chief of staff in the Generalitat Valenciana and president of the contracting tables for the ITV and wind farm concessions, Juan Francisco García; the figurehead and childhood friend Joaquín Barceló and Juan Cotino's nephews, the brothers Vicente and José Cotino. But the judge refused and maintained that he was the former minister who was the first to testify at the trial according to the scheduled schedule. Asked if he fears that any of the accused have reached an agreement with the Prosecutor's Office, he said that "that is what it seems, but what has to come, will come. I have done what I had to do and I have declared to everyone who wanted to ask."
Much of the interrogation by the Prosecutor's Office was aimed at finding out the former president's relationship with the other defendants, especially with Grau, Barceló and Fernando Belhot, the Uruguayan lawyer who allegedly operated to bring to Spain the money from the commissions obtained in the concessions of the Valencian generalitat. Zaplana did not at any time deny his friendship with them, in some cases, such as that of Grau or Barceló, maintained throughout his life. And he acknowledged that he had made “thousands” of efforts to put his friends in contact with political and economic actors “but without seeking his own benefit.”
However, he denied having participated in, knowing or using the companies they managed. “My friendship is one thing; Am I a friend of them? Yes; Do I have anything to do with their businesses or societies? No,” he stated. At the insistence of the prosecutor he went so far as to say that “we have been here for two hours and we only talk about Barceló and Belhot. Here we are not talking about my checking accounts, or my investments, or my companies because there is nothing.”
He even flatly denied any relationship with the documents that were seized in his office, in which the names of several of these companies appear. “I have neither seen them nor is it possible that they have ever been in my possession.” The statement lasted three and a half hours, and afterwards the defense barely asked any questions. Today Barceló will declare. Before the trial, a curious anecdote occurred when Zaplana arrived at the City of Justice. When trying to enter, a woman confronted him and criticized him for not waiting in line. “I've been here since nine thirty, get in line,” he told her.
