A knock-back to the theory of an alleged Russian plot connected to the Catalan independence process. The judge of Barcelona investigative court number 1, Joaquín Aguirre, has ordered the provisional dismissal and closure of the inquiry centred on Josep Lluís Alay, office director for Catalan president in exile Carles Puigdemont, over an alleged operation to buy and sell oil. The judge, who admits that it has not even been possible to determine whether the operation was carried out, has adopted this decision "given the lack of solid evidence of criminality".
The so-called Russian section of the investigation centred on Alay refers to a conversation that was intercepted on his mobile phone, as part of the Civil Guard's Volhov operation in 2020, with Alexander Dmitrenko, a Russian businessman resident in Barcelona, who was congratulated by the head of president Puigdemont's office on the sale of Russian liquefied gas to a Chinese company, a transaction which in the end did not take place. Judge Aguirre considered Dmitrenko to be the Russian connection with Puigdemont's Catalan government, in relation to whom the judge was seeking evidence of illicit financing, especially when the Spanish government did not approve Dmitrenko's application for Spanish nationality. The public prosecutor, Fernando Maldonado, had earlier described the investigation as "prospective", but the more senior Barcelona Audience court endorsed the inquiries of judge Aguirre. However, that judge has now closed the section on the alleged sales operation. Dmitrenko has denied having any relationship with Puigdemont.
Judge admits that there is no crime
In the resolution, dated July 28th, Barcelona investigating judge Joaquín Aguirre states that after the study of Alay's mobile phone and the testimony as a person under investigation by Alexander Dmitrenko, "it can be considered that there is no solid evidence that to support the existence of evidence of criminality in the operation of buying and selling oil in which Alay and Dmitrenko allegedly participated". The magistrate admits that "it cannot even be determined whether the sales operation actually took place; although it seems true that a down payment of nearly 300,000 dollars was made”. And it concludes: "Given the lack of solid evidence of criminality, it has been decided to dismiss the operation of the oil purchase".
Other parts of the Volhov case
In the same interlocutory document, the judge conducting the Volhov investigation adds that "it has not been decided to close inquiries over other facts with criminal appearance, which may be used in other separate sections of the case different from the current one, such as the 300,000 euros that Gerard Figueras had to manage through the Catalan Sports Council". Figueras, former director of the Catalan Sports Council and current secretary general of Sports for the Catalan government, is one of the ten people investigated in the Volhov case.
Meanwhile, judge Aguirre maintains open investigations into Alay for actions he took at the Barcelona Provincial Council and in another section for having requested information from a Mossos police officer about his police monitoring, a matter which his lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, assures was not a crime, since at each airport, the police informed him that he figured in police alerts without clarifying the reasons and whether there was judicial authorization.
Puigdemont: "It has done its job"
Carles Puigdemont reacted quickly to the news that the judge in the Volhov case had given up its inquiry into the section of the alleged Russian plot involving his chief of staff, Josep Lluís Alay. The anti-corruption prosecutor had already warned that this section of the case was "prospective" and unfounded. "It has already done the job it had to do," tweeted Puigdemont. "People took advantage of it unscrupulously. We don't expect any solidarity. But we remember," he added, stressing his support for his aide Alay.
