Former minister Montoro charged with allegedly changing laws to benefit gas companies

A judge in Tarragona has charged former PP Finance Minister Cristóbal Montoro for allegedly taking advantage of his position to approve various laws that benefited gas companies that were clients of a law firm—Economic Team (EE)—that the minister had founded before joining the government.

Twenty-eight individuals and six legal entities are implicated in the plot for the alleged commission of seven crimes : bribery, fraud against the public administration, malfeasance, influence peddling, prohibited negotiations, business corruption, and document falsification, as reported by La Vanguardia.

According to the ruling issued by the Second Court of Instruction of Tarragona, "the use of such powers would have allowed Equipo Económico (EE) to offer companies from different sectors reforms that would benefit their economic interests, to the detriment of the public sector."

The investigations, he adds, "reveal the intention to approve an 'ad hoc' modification, that is, one that would exclusively benefit gas companies and exclude other sectors whose electricity costs also exceed the threshold of 50% of production costs."

It also shows that the companies included in the AFGIM (Air Liquide, Abello, Messer, Praxair and Carburos Metálicos) were even responsible for "drafting the text proposed for the development of the regulation that would include them in the aforementioned tax benefit, giving rise to a situation that could be described as improper substitution or outsourcing in the exercise of regulatory powers in the pre-legislative phase of the development of the law, as well as its implementing regulations."

Furthermore, it also states that "he allegedly uses the powers that correspond to him in the legislative initiative of his Ministry, which would presumably ensure a profit for the EE firm."