Lawyer Luis Medina uses the example that the Prosecutor’s Office archived the case of Ayuso’s brother for selling masks at the same price
The trial for the mask case has come to a close this Thursday without Luis Medina and Alberto Luceño exercising their right to have the final say, following the final arguments of their defenses, who have requested the acquittal of their clients as the fraud against the Madrid City Council has not been proven.
The oral hearing concludes after eight sessions where various officials from the City of Madrid have testified, including the former head of purchases of the Council during the pandemic and the managing director of Madrid Salud, experts from the Tax Agency, and experts from the Madrid Municipal Police.
In their statements, the defendants made it clear that they never discussed commissions with Elena Collado, contrary to her claims, and that the price of the masks was set by the Malaysian company Leno, the supplier of the material provided to the Council.
In the final session, the public prosecutors, PSOE and Más Madrid, as well as the defense lawyers, presented their final conclusions. The PSOE lawyer raised the possibility of legal action against the defendants for inconsistencies in the oral hearing and to investigate crimes of influence peddling and malfeasance.
Luis Medina’s lawyer, José Antonio Choclán, requested an acquittal considering that the fraud accusation lacks foundation primarily because the mask prices could not be inflated due to a broken market with no supply, and there was no breach of contracts as «the goal was to bring that medical material.»
«The ‘big hit’ that the prosecutor talks about… doesn’t the City of Madrid want that now through criminal proceedings? Isn’t it a ‘big hit’ for the City to keep all the commission paid by the intermediary? That is the accusatory intention,» he stated, emphasizing that Elena Collado «thought» they would not charge commissions.
«The ethical or moral issue has nothing to do with fraud,» added the lawyer, insisting that the Malaysian company Leno could pay whatever commissions they wanted. Yesterday, Alberto Luceño stated that it was the supplier who set the amount of money they would receive for the operation.
He also cited the case of the regional president’s brother, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, which was archived by the Prosecutor’s Office when they sold the same masks at the same price as his client.
«As an example, we know that a case was opened regarding Ayuso’s brother that was archived by the Prosecutor’s Office on March 14, 2023, in which masks were also sold for five euros, and the Prosecutor stated it was a reasonable market price and closed the case. The price set here was 6.24 euros, but with the donation in the end, it comes down to 4.99 euros, which was the same price,» he emphasized.
THE MONEY WAS NOT HIDDEN
Alberto Luceño’s lawyer supported his colleague Choclán’s arguments regarding the aggravated fraud charge against both defendants, pointing out that there was no concealment of the five million received as a commission. «It arrived transparently in Spain, and the commissions were received in a personal account at a Spanish bank,» he said.
In his conclusions, the prosecutor yesterday maintained the sentences of nine and fifteen years in prison for the crimes they are accused of—aggravated fraud, falsification of commercial documents, falsification of documents, and tax evasion—adding a ban on engaging in commerce for the duration of the sentence.
In his report, the prosecutor emphasized that all the facts they are accused of have been proven and all elements of the crime are substantiated by the evidence.
Regarding the fraud, he believes the profit motive has been «more than proven» by various pieces of evidence, such as an email stating «for the taking» and describing the operation as a «big hit,» as well as the amount of commissions.
«The commission they received was 149% for masks, 244% for tests, and 426% for gloves. It’s difficult to find a greater profit motive in these types of operations,» he stressed in yesterday’s session.
Regarding the deception, the prosecutor highlighted that the concealment of commissions is proven and that they wanted to create the impression that they were acting altruistically and not taking commissions, as evidenced by an email from Elena Collado on March 22 stating they would not receive money for that operation.
«The price was increased to take advantage of the circumstances, which is a key element of deception. Luis Medina and Luceño claimed to have experience in foreign trade when they had not signed any deals in those two years,» he noted.
