Koldo García: "Santos Cerdán got me to act as Ábalos's driver in the PSOE."

Koldo García, known for being José Luis Ábalos's advisor at the Ministry of Transport between 2018 and 2021, recorded certain meetings and conversations since at least 2013, when he lived and worked in Navarre and where he met Santos Cerdán, the former PSOE Organization Secretary who was imprisoned a month ago. Over the past eleven years, he has kept these recordings safe, seized by the UCO (Central University of Navarre) last year, and which are now part of the evidence surrounding this corruption scheme. In addition to these audio recordings, written and audio conversations from instant messaging apps that he also saved have been analyzed.

The tape recorder used to record conversations that have now brought down Cerdán contains audio recordings dating back to June 2013. When García was arrested in a corruption scandal involving rigged mask contracts, Cerdán had to provide explanations before the Senate's commission of inquiry, where he denied that he was the one who promoted or endorsed the former ministerial advisor within the PSOE.

However, in a now-discovered audio recording, he explains to an acquaintance that he was working as a driver for José Luis Ábalos, the PSOE's Organization Secretary at the time, on a six-year contract. "Santos Cerdán got me involved," García admits.

From being a driver, he became the Valencian leader's confidant. In addition to handling his diary and briefcases, he organized his meetings, directed the cast of plays—as evidenced by various recordings—and even took charge of finding prostitutes.

García-Cerdán: a long-lasting relationship

The investigation has revealed that Cerdán was the one who brought him from Navarre to Madrid when Sánchez regained the party's general secretary position in 2017 and Ábalos was appointed Secretary of Organization, while Cerdán was chosen as Secretary of Territorial Coordination, bringing Navarre to the national party. Now this trio has ended up under investigation for using the Ministry of Transport to rig contracts in exchange for bribes they shared.

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The dumped files from García's cell phones were handed over by order of Supreme Court Judge Leopoldo Puente to the defense and prosecution in the case. They also include a vast amount of trivial information. These are voicemails that Santos Cerdán's assistant, and later José Luis Ábalos's assistant, exchanged with people who, in general, have nothing to do with the investigation.

Portrait of the life of an assistant

What these audio recordings have allowed is to paint a portrait of García's life. "So many ministers and so many..." (you can add any word you want, but you can imagine the author of that quote was very rude).

This is one of the many messages Koldo García received on one of the cell phones seized by the Civil Guard, the content of which has been handed over to the parties in this case. The message, sent on June 13, 2018, when Pedro Sánchez defeated Mariano Rajoy in the vote of no confidence, describes the rise to the heavens of a rather ordinary man who had initially been hired as a driver for the PSOE's organizational secretary and later for the Minister of Transport.

In numerous messages, old friends reproach him for having changed his life, thanks to which, for example, he can now drive at full speed in his car because "you don't get tickets anymore."

And indeed, the change is astonishing, because in just a few years, Koldo can sit in the minister's office and tell him in great detail which projects should be awarded to which companies, which officials comply with his orders and which don't, and what business opportunities—and, of course, commissions—there are, for example, with a Venezuelan oil company controlled by the United States.

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The leap this character takes is colossal. Going from receiving a shouted message from someone demanding someone be sent to fix "the f... shower screen" to deciding which business owners should be awarded projects worth hundreds of millions is colossal.

However, one thing hasn't changed over the more than seven years of messages recorded on Koldo García's various devices: money. Day in and day out, he receives messages from acquaintances who owe him money or demand money, demand bills, or ask for work. The "see if you can find me something" is a classic, and it seems Koldo complies, because there are also messages of gratitude.

The picture that can be gathered from listening to more than 20,000 audio recordings sent and received over more than a decade reveals a man with a sense of power and a proven track record in the underworld. Hence, back in 2013, he bought a tape recorder and sent two young men to spy on members of the PSOE (Socialist Workers' Party) in Navarre, amidst the ongoing internal conflicts.

Don’t be angry, but you’re all very slutty.” Koldo García

He knew who to approach to reach the top. "I've already achieved my goal in life, professionally and personally," he admitted to Ábalos in an audio recording in which he lamented that his then-wife had taken a stand against him. As the minister's advisor, he also managed certain aspects of Ábalos's marriage and curbed his wife's anger when he didn't return to Valencia on the agreed-upon days. It was the minister's business. Although in parallel, García sought out personal entertainment: "Whoever you want. Or Ariatna and Carlota, fuck you," in addition to arranging meetings with other couples.

An analysis of García's phone also reveals the hectic life he led since arriving in Madrid, traveling from one place to another. He had to juggle all his professional activities, which ranged from reminding the minister to take care of some of his senior officials to requesting formalities from the Prime Minister, with his personal ones. And all of this was handled in a sometimes shocking tone: "Don't get angry, I don't want any trouble, but you're all sluts. Give me a 500-dollar bill and you'll bend down, shamelessly."