Key Witnesses Summoned in Investigation of Begoña Gómez's Alleged Misappropriation
In a significant development in the ongoing investigation involving Begoña Gómez, the wife of the Spanish Prime Minister, Judge Juan Carlos Peinado has summoned several key witnesses to provide testimony on May 28. This includes notable figures such as Marc Murtra, the former president of Indra and the current executive chairman of Telefónica; Manuel Ausaverri, the director of strategy at Indra; and Fernando Abril-Márquez, the former president of Indra and former CEO of Telefónica.
As reported by Europa Press, the judge has scheduled these testimonies to begin at 10:30 AM, following requests from popular accusations that aim to explore the investments made by these technology companies into the software associated with the extraordinary chair of Competitive Social Transformation at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), which Gómez is alleged to have improperly appropriated.
This summons comes two weeks after the judge called in several other witnesses, which included Luis Abril, the head of Minsait (a subsidiary of Indra) and current executive director of the tech company, along with Miguel Rodríguez Bueno, a Google project manager, and Rosauro Varo, the vice president of Telefónica. The legal representatives of Vox confirmed that these individuals were shown to have substantial roles in the technical and institutional activities tied to the program established at UCM, under Begoña Gómez's supervision.
Previously, the Investigative Court Number 41 in Madrid received names for this inquiry from Fuencisla Clemares, former director of Google in Spain and Portugal, and a current vice president at the company, as well as from Ignacio Mataix and Cristina Ruiz, former executives of Indra. The accusations asserted that these additional summonses are needed given the witnesses' ongoing references to individuals who may have had direct involvement in the negotiations linked to the software investment associated with Gómez.
During the initial testimonies on April 2, the three current and former officials from Indra and Telefónica clarified that their roles did not afford them insight into the particulars of the discussions concerning the software investments allegedly misappropriated by Gómez.
Documents submitted to Judge Peinado revealed that Indra and Google had reported their financial contributions towards the software investments last year, with Google investing €110,000 and Indra providing €128,442. The investigation continues to unfold, raising questions about accountability and transparency in the management of public funds and resources within influential governmental and technological frameworks.
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