Casa Real.- The ‘Little Nicolás’ will sit on the bench this Tuesday for his trip to Ribadeo

Francisco Nicolás Gómez Iglesias, better known as ‘Little Nicolás’, will be tried on Tuesday at the Provincial Court of Madrid for the trip he made in 2014 to Ribadeo posing as a link of the Vice Presidency of the Government and the Royal House, for which The Prosecutor’s Office accuses him of usurpation, bribery and falsification of an official document and asks for seven years in prison.The trial, which has been postponed up to two times, one due to the coronavirus pandemic and another because her then lawyer denounced “pressure and coercion” towards her and her family, will begin at 10:00 am on Tuesday in the 17th Section of the Hearing Provincial of Madrid, although it is expected to extend to Wednesday and Thursday.

Gómez Iglesias, who will have as his defense lawyer Manuel Marchena Perea, son of Supreme Court Magistrate Manuel Marchena, will be tried for the trip he made to Ribadeo on August 13, 2014, pretending to be a high position to meet with a businessman, “with the purpose of gaining his trust, without stating with certainty whether he intended to obtain a direct economic benefit from him, “according to the prosecution’s brief.

To do this, he asked a municipal policeman in Madrid whom he knew before, Jorge González, to provide him with the police means to “appear official.” This agent in turn contacted a municipal policeman from Torrijos (Toledo), Carlos Pérez. The first received from ‘Little Nicolás’ a payment of 2,000 euros and gave his partner 400 euros.

The ‘Little Nicolás’, the two policemen and four drivers with their respective cars that Gómez Iglesias had hired and whom they made believe it was an “official trip” headed to Ribadeo in a “retinue”. The rented cars carried false accreditations from the Ministry of the Interior prepared by the defendant himself on his computer, to which were added the illuminated rotaries, transmission devices and ‘earpieces’ that agent González had removed from police stations.

Upon reaching Ribadeo, they were greeted by a car and two motorcycles from the Municipal Police, an escort that ‘Little Nicolás’ had requested days before by phone, identifying himself as the link between the Vice Presidency of the Government and the Royal House. He also reserved tables and parking spaces at the Nautical Club, also indicating that “a high personality from the Royal Family” would attend.

At the restaurant, Gómez Iglesias was received by the mayor of Ribadeo, to whom he introduced himself as said link and with whom he “chatted briefly”, before eating with the businessman. Agent González interrupted the meal to notify ‘Little Nicolás’ that he had a call from the then Vice President of the Government, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, which was false. After lunch, they returned with the same “entourage” to Madrid.

TWO POLICE OFFICERS

For these facts, the ‘Little Nicolás’ is accused of alleged crimes of usurpation of public functions, falsification in official document and active bribery, and the Madrid Prosecutor’s Office asks him for a total of seven years in prison, the disqualification to exercise the right to suffrage for the same time and a fine of 27 months with a daily quota of one hundred euros.

The two policemen are also accused of alleged crimes of usurpation of public functions and passive bribery. The Public Ministry requests for them five and a half years in prison, the aforementioned disqualification for a year and a half, and a fine of fifteen months with a daily fee of 10 euros.

It is only one of the trials that Francisco Nicolás has pending and for which he faces a total of 27 years in prison for crimes of fraud, disclosure of secrets or integration into a criminal group, among others.

The Provincial Court of Madrid already confirmed in July 2018 his acquittal of having committed a crime of insults and slander against the CNI in various media for accusing the body of illegally ‘tapping’ his phone. In this case, the defense of ‘Little Nicolás’ alleged mental disorders to declare his inimputability.