Juez Garibey appeared to listen attentively. He swallowed the objection and moved on. "Eminence, I was rather expecting you to disclaim any knowledge of your predecessor's actions. Before you were elevated to your current rank as Primate of Spain, were you not the senior assistant to your predecessor as Cardinal Archbishop?
"I was. But what has this to do with anything?"
"It is for me to ask the questions, Eminence, not you."
The Cardinal Archbishop blatantly seethed. He was known for his short fuse, however able an ecclesiastical administrator.
"In the records I have here the initials 'CAbp', in both the period of Cardinal Archbishop Adrian and your own, which are shown as the recipient of regular payments. Was it you, as the intermediary, accepting cash in envelopes?"
The Cardinal Archbishop did not hesitate to agree: "Yes, it was me. I was accepting contributions to our Holy Church, just as I told you before and like any sacerdote does when his parishioners put an envelope into the collection plate in church on Sunday."
"Please tell me when you became chief assistant to Cardinal Archbishop Adrian."
The Cardinal Archbishop knew the date by heart. He was pleased to provide it.
"Eminence, would you consider it a coincidence that the first of these bi-monthly payments after your appointment as chief assistant was the one I mentioned earlier? This went into a Church bank account, and was later reversed. Or, to put it another way, the payments in envelopes started to arrive when you began accepting the monies on behalf of Cardinal Archbishop Adrian. Is this a coincidence?"
The Cardinal Archbishop dismissed Juez Garibey.
"Yes," he asserted smoothly, "it could've been."
There was only a hint of anger. Nevertheless, it was there, as both Juez Garibey and the Cardinal Archbishop's lawyer noted.
"As mentioned before, Eminence, these payments by envelopes continued until three years ago. What happened to the cash inside?"
"It will have gone into Church accounts, for the benefit of the faithful."
"Can you tell me which accounts?"
"Off the top of my head, no. Why should I? Are you doubting my word?"
"Eminence, let me remind you, it's for me to ask the questions."
This time the Cardinal Archbishop's facial reaction was uglier.
"Eminence, could you explain how every two months the sum of eleven thousand and twenty euros appeared as a cash deposit in an account in a small savings society run by priests called the Caja Santiago?"
The Cardinal Archbishop turned apoplectic as he said, "That's how it should be!"
"According to the records we have obtained, all the cash deposits of eleven thousand and twenty euros were only ever made to one account." Juez Garibey read out a number. "Do you recognise that account number?"
"No."
"You should. It's in your name only and was opened with the first envelope payment from Señora Márquez. The only transfers out are to another account in your name, this time held at a branch of BBVA in Toledo. Is this also correct?"
The Cardinal Archbishop addressed his lawyer: "Do I have to answer?"
"You can decline, but it will not look good."
"I decline to answer."
"In that case, Eminence, you will understand why I believe I have sufficient evidence to cite you as Imputado for accepting illegally sourced payments and possibly stealing from your Church. I am as yet unclear whether to add the offences of money laundering, blackmail and accepting bribes. There may even be others. That will be all for today, Eminence. You may leave."
Wednesday: Sala de lo Penal, Madrid
The Tuesday afternoon session had been disappointing, at least in comparison to the confrontation with the Cardinal Archbishop. The press, as so often happened when they should not have been able to discover what had transpired, were full of the accusations against the Cardinal Archbishop and later the deputy head of Opus Dei.
They explained in shamefully accurate detail the questioning of the latter and how he had crumbled before bleating out that he and other senior members of Opus had used the monies for their own furtherance, both to acquire more influence within Opus and afterwards ensure it was able to buy what it could not legally achieve.
Even as the details of the Cardinal Archbishop were being confirmed the press began to speculate about what would happen next. Which Church figures would have to appear on Wednesday? Was Juez de Instrucción Rafael Garibey de Williams, for they delighted in the full formality of his name and title, starting a legal vendetta against the Roman Catholic Church? They suspected so, given how a previous enquiry he had been responsible for in his salad days had been swept under a judicial carpet, allegedly at the behest of the former Papal Nuncio. The right-leaning press demanded the suspension of Garibey. The left counter-demanded that no whitewash occur this time.
Both sides loved it. They were selling papers and advertising space like no tomorrow.
Juez Garibey's wife was impressed and appalled, pretty much like most ordinary Spaniards who had to read the papers or listen to the radio or watch television. If what her husband was uncovering was true she was disgusted.
She wanted no part in a holy witch hunt, preferring to remain devout and devoted to the good that the Church did. She said as much to her husband. He assured her that he had no intention of attacking the Church or even Opus, just those who cheated their congregations. She wasn't sure what this might imply for the future but kept her peace, at least until she knew more.
Juez Garibey was unperturbed by his wife's fears. He knew better. He knew that she was shocked by the revelations of ecclesiastical greed. She continued to hope his accusations weren't true. He knew they were. Thus far he was only scratching at the edges of long condoned, clerical ill-behaviour.
Today, Wednesday, it was the turn of business. Constructores Equilibris and MMH would, as before, produce little but he expected much more from ServiArquitectos.
By lunchtime he had dealt with CE and MMH. Neither had been able to provide as yet the formal confirmation of transactions on the M-In side that he sought. Both had committed to going through their records to verify, or not, the extra details he provided. They had also agreed, insofar as was possible, to identify the executives responsible for authorising payment for the transactions. Both companies understood, he believed, that they were potentially under a judicial cosh unless they actively assisted.
Having seen the press clamour overnight the executives present were falling over themselves to cooperate, putting the maximum distance between when they were appointed and what had occurred in the past.
Juez Garibey's impression was that a substantial part of the M-In accounts would be confirmed as accurate by the payees. A big step forward, if true.
Next was ServiArquitectos. Beforehand he would have a light lunch to put his thoughts in order. He was, therefore, surprised to find Pedro waiting for him outside his private office. After exchanging the normal courtesies he studied Pedro in enquiry.
"Emilia has found more. Some relate to ServiArquitectos for this afternoon. Equally some larger political fish are emerging from the sewer's undergrowth, if you see what I mean."
"You have names?"
Pedro confirmed that not only did they have names but, using the investigatory powers authorised by Juez Garibey combined with what Señora Márquez was revealing, there were more and more provable transactions coming to light. While they were not finished yet, Emilia's forensic insights were working with Caterina's search and matching skills. It meant the pair were making faster progress than anyone expected.
On the current evidence, Pedro alleged, these two were terrorising financial institutions into opening up. Somehow they are using technology to pose far-reaching electronic questions the like of which these institutions had never thought or been able to ask. The cross-assembled results produce associations which would not normally appear in the straightforward paths that his CNP people were accustomed to following.
I
n addition, according to Pedro, Emilia and Caterina were relentless. Once they had the smell of anything suspicious they kept on asking, looking and uncovering.
"I tell you, Señoría, we have so much to learn from them. I don't know if it is what the Australians teach or if it is their raw talents or a mix but I estimate those two have completed in five days what would've taken my team five months. It's as if they know the right questions to ask in advance."
"I had no idea. But you're here for a reason?"
"Given what Emilia has tracked or is tracking I think you'll want to 'invite' these to an early hearing."
Pedro handed over a paper with three names, the sight of which turned Juez Garibey white.
"You're not joking, are you? No, you're not. I must think about this. I'll let you know my decision. You say that your people are still working through the details? Well in that case perhaps we should wait."
"That isn't quite correct, Señoría. There's enough to ask questions and see what the responses are. What we do not have is the circle closed. To put it another way, it seems that many of those who received 'white envelopes' from Márquez also received equivalents from others, presumably like Márquez. Before long we should be able to add several other Márquez-like agents. But even more significantly for those names I gave you, some of these seem to have fallen into the bad habit of depositing the cash from those envelopes into their or their partner's bank accounts."
"That would be extraordinarily stupid of them."
"Yes. It seems that habitual corrupt practices made for laziness over time. Furthermore, building on what Márquez told us about handing out anonymous debit cards, onto which cash could be placed, there's a whole new pasture to be ploughed. If you know the card numbers and the amounts you can chase down an inordinate amount of detail. Caterina knows how to do it.
"I have confidence that our two Australians will provide incriminating evidence before too long, quite sufficient for you to start issuing more citations. In my mind the only doubt is whether to invite them as 'testigos', witnesses to give evidence or skip that stage and go straight to 'imputados', there being sufficient evidence already to pre-indict them before trial."
"I must still think this through. But it sounds as if Márquez is the proverbial singing canary."
"She is. Your treatment of her the other day pushed her over an edge on which I think she'd been sitting very uncomfortably for some time. By distracting Gómez with his own problems, you manufactured an opening that we may not have otherwise encountered."
"Thank you, Pedro. If you will excuse me I need to make myself ready for this afternoon. I'll let you know what I decide."
Wednesday: Sala de lo Penal, Madrid
As at the previous session, ServiArquitectos was represented by Cyntia Cárdenas and the long-necked Adoración Carbajal, plus six lawyers this time. Juez Garibey reminded himself to call Carbajal 'Señorita' if she was to be addressed as she preferred, even if this was largely antique in Spain. There was no need for many preparatory words. Everybody was familiar with the legal process.
Before he could open with his initial line of questioning one of the lawyers asked to intervene. Juez Garibey, irritated, agreed.
There followed a long and tense discussion about how evidence given in the Sala was leaking to the media, as it clearly was given all the publicity overnight about the questioning of the Cardinal Archbishop and the Opus Dei second-in-command. The lawyer was concerned, not desiring any bad publicity for his clients, both ServiArquitectos and the two executives. He was also worried about commercially sensitive information emerging.
To his mild consternation Juez Garibey sympathised with the points being made. Though he could not say it aloud, he was furious that so much accurate information had so swiftly made its way to the journalistic monster ravening for more. Unfortunately it was almost always the way. What was supposed to remain confidential in the Salas was public property within hours or even minutes of a hearing. In truth he was amazed that the names of yesterday's and today's witnesses had not emerged in advance.
Ironically, it was probably the lawyers for those witnesses who did most of the leaking, deliberately and in order to try to shape public opinion as far possible in their client's favour. It usually didn't work but that did not stop them.
Combine the sorry fact that the Sala's staff was badly-paid and worse-regarded and nobody could be surprised at what emerged. Indeed, perhaps the real surprise was that so many of the leaks were accurate. There was little he could do to offer as reassurance. The lawyer also knew it. He was objecting for form's sake in case it offered a path for an appeal in the future if ever needed.
Having disposed of the objection Juez Garibey commenced with his principle line of questions. With these he sought to find out whether ServiArquitectos could be induced, wittingly or not, to confirm the ServiArquitectos transactions listed in the M-In Accounts.
He offered to Señora Cárdenas a listing of all payments discovered by Emilia with the M-In Accounts, although not described as such, on one page with extracts from the ServiArquitectos accounts on the facing page. Having explained the significance and source of the second page he sought confirmation of the first page's accuracy.
To his surprise, Señora Cárdenas was open and helpful. If the items in page two had come from the access granted to the ServiArquitectos accounting systems obtained by the Señoría and these corresponded with the items on the first page, and on first sight it seemed they did, she could therefore accept their correctness.
Juez Garibey was suspicious. This was too easy. He moved on.
"Could Señora Cárdenas explain why there were so many double payments for the same invoice and failures to seek refunds of credit notes?"
She was more guarded this time and said, "About the credit notes I can tell you. On the advice of our internal counsel here, Señorita Carbajal, some years ago ServiArquitectos took a policy decision only to seek repayment of credit notes if a supplier was repeatedly taking advantage."
"Was that not a rather strange policy, Señora? Your company was allowing its suppliers keep money they owed ServiArquitectos?"
"It depends on who you ask, Señoría. As I recall it, Adoración, Señorita Carbajal, suggested it because she heard this was common practice in other businesses. We trust our suppliers to return what is not theirs."
Juez Garibey reflected on this before saying, "It was also a remarkably simple way to provide excess payments to suppliers whilst still appearing to observe good accounting practices."
"Only if you say so, Señoría."
"What about double paying invoices?"
"That was never material. It happens all the time in large companies. We all know it. We try to stamp it out but we never manage it. There are many reasons why it occurs. The most common is human error. The second most common is urgency. The third is these two combined."
"I don't understand, Señora Cárdenas. Error and urgency?"
"It's simple, Señoría." She spoke with an exaggerated patience clearly conveying she thought Juez Garibey slow-minded.
"A supplier fulfils an order and sends us the ordered products and, separately, the invoice. The invoice takes time to go through our strict quality acceptance and approval procedures. This the supplier cannot control. Meanwhile, we unintentionally exceed the, say, thirty or sixty days we have to pay the supplier. The supplier calls to complain. The slow approval process is our fault. We issue an urgent manual payment authorisation, but only because the supplier is well known to us. Occasionally, when the approval process finally completes, the originally intended automated cheque also goes out, in effect a second payment. If the supplier does not inform us we have to notice what has happened. I can tell you, Señoría, the amounts involved are tiny, perhaps a quarter of 1 per cent, most probably less, of our total purchases."
"You make it sound so convincing, Señora. Just common errors not followed up. By the way, how much is a quarter of 1 per cent of your annual purchases?"
>
"Today our purchases are about nine billion euros a year, but most of that is payments for people that are handled differently. Say about two billion."
"If I calculate correctly, that quarter of a per cent of two billion is around five million euros."
"I suppose so. As you said earlier, 'tiny, peanuts'."
"No, you said it, not me. Add to this the credit notes and there might be many million euros per year incorrectly leaking out, just from these two 'errors'."
"In the context of our more than ten billion of sales that's immaterial, Señoría."
"Perhaps. But even five million euros a year adds up to a decent little slush fund."
Garibey was interrupted by Señorita Carbajal. Standing, red along the long length of her neck and across her face, these were minor details Juez Garibey absorbed in passing.
"You cannot make insinuations like that. You have no evidence."
She was about to continue but was tugged back to her seat.
Juez Garibey waited before responding: "But I believe I have."
He proceeded to lay out his second line of questioning, bringing into play where the first page of listings had come from in the M-In Accounts. He finished this by asking what they had to say.
Silence reigned. When no answer emerged he spoke again.
"From the evidence that I have from my investigations I will be citing Señoras Cárdenas and Carbajal, as executives of ServiArquitectos and ServiArquitectos itself as imputados and involved in premeditated and systematic bribery of public officials and others in pursuit of unlawful gains."
At the desk in front of Juez Garibey the two lady executives began to rant and rave at him. Their lawyers were hard-put to gather them up and persuade them to leave before they made matters worse.
Corruption's Price: A Spanish Deceit Page 32