Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri (ex-CEO of BBVA) has testified before Manuel Garcia Castellon, the judge at the National High Court. The banker stated that he did nothing to interfere in the hiring Cenyt, the Commissioner’s security company. He also endorsed any responsibility for Francisco Gonzalez, the former president of BBVA. Gonzalez is one of the main investigators in this case.
According to the statement’s legal sources, Goirigolzarri said that he discovered that the bank had hired intelligence agents through a conversation he had with Angel Cano in 2004 or 2005. Angel Cano was also a former CEO of BBVA and at that time held other internal responsibilities, including director of media.
Goirigolzarri reported that Cano told him that an intelligence agency was hired. However, he doesn’t recall that he mentioned Cenyt and Villarejo in relation to the problem at Sacyr construction company, which was at the time trying to get out of the bank shareholding.
His testimony revealed that Goirigolzarri was angry at the Sacyr offensive and considered it disloyalty that he discovered by other means that Cenyt had hired the services of an intelligence agency to handle this sensitive matter.
When asked by the parties who could order Villarejo’s hiring, he said that it was not him. He was second at BBVA at the time. The only person who was able to make such a decision was Francisco Gonzalez, president from 2000-2018. When asked about the note Commissioner Villarejo wrote in his own handwriting, the witness replied in this manner. It was that note that prompted his summons.
Villarejo wrote the note on June 27, 2005. It was one year after Luis del Rivero was appointed to espionage. He also explained that Goirigolzarri was the CEO at the time and was “disgusted” when he learned about the project. He said that controlling a Gob member was a crime. It could be a crime,” is a part of the annotation.
The witness stated that his subordinates hired the job to stop Del Rivero from entering BBVA’s capital. Villarejo named Trampa the project, and it was the most ambitious he had ever developed for the bank over the past 13 years (2004 to 2017). He carried out more than 10,000,000 euros in commissions. According to the summary, the work was budgeted at 592.069 euros. It included important bankers, businessmen, and even members from the Rodriguez Zapatero Executive.
The police officer obtained information about Miguel Sebastian, then the director of the Economic Office. This was in light of his involvement in the promotion of Sacyr, which was detrimental to Francisco Gonzalez. Villarejo also watched Juan Abello, a former vice president at CNMV Carlos Arenillas, and Emilio Botin, a banker. Vicente Benedito was also a former CEO of the bank, as well as the former director of Sacyr.
