José Francisco Pastor, former councilor of the PP in Boadilla del Monte and former manager of the Patronato de Cultura, has not been able to suppress the tears in the sixth session of the third great trial of the PP for the Gürtel plot, which has been held since last week at the National Court . This Thursday, during his interrogation, the exedil has defended his innocence and has denied his involvement in the dirty business of the plot in the Madrid town, for which the Prosecutor’s Office asks him for a sentence of two years and six months in prison: “I I have honorably held those positions. And, also, proud to have belonged to the Popular Party. Let it be clear ”.

Of the 24 people sitting on the bench, 17 have already confessed. However, the remaining seven reject the facts attributed to them by the public ministry, which maintains that the plot was nested in the Boadilla City Council with the approval of different public officials and, from there, they manipulated contracts to grant projects to companies that paid bites. Part of that money, in addition, was allegedly used to pay for electoral events of the PP. Pastor, for example, is accused of splitting the invoices for a “closing concert act of the cycle tribute to Luigi Boccherini”, awarded to companies linked to the leader of Gürtel, Francisco Correa. But the former councilman has denied this Thursday that he broke the law and that he received some kind of “perk” from the corrupt network.

Visibly moved, the exedil has also charged against other defendants: “Here there have been statements by former colleagues of the PP that leave thousands of affiliates who have honestly dedicated ourselves to the party to shame,” Pastor insisted, referring to those who have offered, during the previous sessions, profuse details of his participation in the goings-on of the plot. Among them, the former mayor of Boadilla, Arturo González Panero, who held the position from 1999 to 2009; Alfonso Bosch, former popular deputy; and César Tomás Martín Morales, former manager of the Municipal Land and Housing Company (EMSV) and director of campaigns for the local PP.

“I have felt embarrassed to see how former colleagues said very serious things,” added Pastor, who has assured that Panero removed him from the electoral lists because he was not one of the councilors “related to Correa.” “There is a statement, that of Tomás, in which he says that for ‘due obedience’ we should contract with their companies and to get passes to PP congresses. That is false. Many of us have gone to work at the PP and congresses with our buses and our families, acting as sworn guards at the gates and helping our ideals go with our party. And it has not been in exchange for us being placed in front of a congress ”, he has riveted.

Before Pastor, former councilman Juan Jesús Siguero has paraded before the court, who also denies his participation in the plot and who replaced Panero in the mayor’s office after the outbreak of the Gürtel case. “I was not aware of all this until Gürtel jumps in 2009. I did not suspect it at any time,” he declared, before explaining that it was the leadership of the PP that told him to assume the baton: “They tell you from the party that you should be mayor… It was a brown, a poisoned candy ”. “I had neither voice nor vote in the campaigns”, Seguro continued, who was treasurer of the training in Boadilla: “But I limited myself to turning the monthly receipts to the affiliates and paying the current expenses of the headquarters. Nothing related to the campaign ”.

The account of the former president of L’Oréal

The day of this Thursday has also left the statement of Carlos Jorge Martínez Massa, who was president of L’Oréal in Spain and for whom the Prosecutor’s Office is asking for five years in prison for crimes of fraud against public administrations and money laundering. According to the public ministry, the businessman benefited from the award of a plot through one of his companies, of which he was the manager together with Ramón Blanco Balín, the plot’s tax advisor. Martínez Massa has denied these accusations, but has admitted that he had an account in Switzerland “outside the control” of the Treasury, which he would later regularize.

“Something that does not fill me with pride,” said the defendant, before telling that he used it to pay 90,000 euros “in b” to buy an apartment in the province of Malaga through a transfer to a company owned by Pablo Crespo, number two of Gürtel. “Who gave you this account number?” Asked his lawyer. “Ramón Blanco”, has sentenced Massa, who has assured that he did not know the rest of the accused. “I have not seen these gentlemen in my life. None at any time. And not only did he not know them, but he did not know who they were. “