Reported by Consejeros Editorial Team
Antonio Piña, a judge at the National High Court, opened the trial on Thursday against BBVA, its chairman between 2000 and 2018,
Francisco González, and 14 other individuals, including former bank executives and senior police officers, over several allegedly illegal commissions made by the bank, which are said to have been carried out by the then serving police superintendent, José Manuel Villarejo, between 2004 and 2016.
In the order to open the trial, the judge has committed BBVA to trial for 52 offences of discovery and disclosure of secrets and a continuing offence of active bribery, whilst in the case of its former chairman, Francisco González, the judge charges him with the offences of active and passive bribery and a further 42 alleged offences of discovery and disclosure of secrets, criminal organisation, breach of fiduciary duty and forgery of documents. Piña has set a sum of €1.17 million to cover civil liabilities, with the warning that his assets will be seized should he fail to post this bond within three days.
From now on, the lawyers representing those under investigation have ten days to submit their defence submissions and propose the evidence they deem appropriate for the oral hearing. Once these appeals have been resolved, the judge will set a date for the start of the trial.
The defendants are: Francisco GONZÁLEZ RODRÍGUEZ (chairman of BBVA between 2000 and 2018), Ángel CANO FERNÁNDEZ – chief executive of BBVA (2009–2015) – Julio CORROCHANO PEÑA (Head of Security between 2002 and 2018), Antonio BÉJAR GONZÁLEZ (Head of Risk at BBVA between 2008 and 2014), Eduardo ARBIZÚ LOSTAO (Head of Regulation and Internal Control at BBVA, dismissed in 2019) Eduardo ORTEGA MARTÍN (Head of Legal and Litigation Services at BBVA since 2014), Joaquín GORTARI DÍEZ (González’s chief of staff and head of Internal Audit), Óscar SANTOS TOUCHÉ (BBVA’s security officer and operational liaison with Villarejo), José Manuel GARCÍA CRESPO (Legal Services at the bank), Rafael REDONDO RODRÍGUEZ (partner of Villarejo). And the former police officers: Manuel VÁZQUEZ LÓPEZ, José Santiago SÁNCHEZ APARICIO and Antonio BONILLA MARTÍNEZ.
