Ex-UCO officer accused of collaborating with fuel smuggling ring
A former senior officer of the Guardia Civil will face trial at the National Court for his alleged collusion with a gang dedicated to fuel fraud.
Ex-UCO officer accused of collaborating with fuel smuggling ring
A former senior official of the armed forces is to be tried for allegedly assisting a gang that manipulated fuel commerce. Judge Santiago Pedraz has increased the number of defendants in this major case to 16.
The accused, Juan Sánchez Yepes, was attached to the UCO's money-laundering unit for fourteen years. Internal affairs investigators detected striking financial disparities: between 2018 and 2022, his personal wealth multiplied by 2.3, rising from just over €250,000 to nearly €600,000.
The investigation suggests that the officer leaked operational data to the criminals. He is also alleged to have arranged with a judge the departure from Spanish territory of a gang leader, despite the latter having movement restrictions. This individual travelled on two occasions: once to German territory and once to the United Arab Emirates.
In exchange for these alleged services, the officer is said to have received various perks. Among the gifts discovered was a high-end television—valued at over €1,000—found at an estate in Toledo. Additionally, he handled prepaid cards provided by the criminal network with which he paid for purchases at luxury shops, holiday trips, and subscriptions to video-on-demand services. He even temporarily paid for a personal contacts app.
Various household items purchased through shell companies of the gang ended up installed in the defendant's home. The charge sheet attributes four criminal offences to him: membership of an armed gang, bribery, violation of secrecy, and money laundering.
The same individual appears linked to a second case: the scandal of Socialist "sewers". In that investigation, meetings were documented with Leire Díez, who was seeking compromising material against judges, prosecutors, and police officers. In intercepted recordings, the officer would confess to violating regulations while detailing the organisational structure of his unit.
Yepes rejects the charges, although he acknowledges the meetings with the former party leader. In a recording, Díez claimed that the highest-ranking official of the Armed Institute held her in "full confidence", causing a political earthquake.
The defendant stated he felt "betrayed" by his superiors. Paradoxically, in other audio recordings he expressed aversion towards the force he represented, despite his family lineage being connected to it for three generations.
Source: ABC
Source: ABC