Civil Guard says bribes were part of the “Mediator” scheme: gifts, cash and cards

Internal Affairs asserts that Espinosa was a “24‑hour” general and offered contacts in Africa and the Canary Islands to businessman Bautista.

The Civil Guard defended its position on Friday during the second session of the first phase of the “Mediator” case, stating that bribes were part of the scheme’s modus operandi. The operation began with a “greasing” phase that started with the delivery of small gifts and then progressed to cash payments and prepaid cards that “leave no trace.” However, investigators have been unable to prove the existence or use of these payments due to the difficulty of the investigation.

A captain from the Civil Guard’s Internal Affairs, who testified as a witness, described the case as a “failure” for the force because a division general—sixth in the hierarchy, Francisco Espinosa—received gifts and money while heading a foundation that provided services in the Sahel, even though he was also on the payroll of the Ministry of the Interior. The defense argues that Espinosa had been on special duties since 2017.

The investigation is based on the testimony of the mediator, Navarro Tacoronte, who was arrested in another case, and on the extraction of data from his two mobile phones. These facts have been corroborated; the events took place in 2020 and the probe began in 2022 by order of the 4th Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

The captain described the general as a Civil Guard officer “24 hours a day,” with an office at the Madrid headquarters, an official car with a driver, an official residence, a business card and corporate email. In October 2020, the general received the other two accused—businessman Antonio Bautista and the mediator—at the Civil Guard’s General Directorate.

“If he hadn’t been a general, we wouldn’t be here,” the witness said, noting that early in the scheme Bautista was offered projects worth €14 million in West Africa to install solar panels.

“Tell me what you need and we’ll find a contact; I know people at the embassy,” Espinosa allegedly told Bautista, leveraging his role as head of projects in the Sahel.

The mediator allegedly used the figure of the general and former socialist deputy Juan Bernardo Fuentes Curbelo to approach businessmen, recording everything on his phone—especially during meals, with audio recordings lasting up to eight hours. The scheme’s inception is traced to the gift of two boxes of cigars and a lighter, which a driver for the general collected at Barajas Airport.

The witness could only confirm a purported payment of €1,500 from Bautista to the general in a hotel room, routed through the mediator. The mediator admitted the money was his own. As an example of the scheme’s operation, the captain cited a November trip to Fuerteventura by the general with his extramarital partner, fully funded by Bautista (airfare, hotel, and a rental car).

In a recording, the general is heard saying he wants “to have sex with every payment and bring money to justify it to his wife,” and therefore requests €2,000‑€3,000 for expenses. Bautista initially “didn’t like it” but eventually complied to avoid offending Espinosa.

The scheme also used the pretext of organizing a conference that never took place, following the model of a previous conference linked to the Civil Guard on Tenerife.

Following that trip, the witness says there was a demand—considered an “exigency”—that Bautista’s company hire the general’s lover with a salary of €3,000, although Bautista’s own salary as head was €2,600. The woman performed some commercial tasks, but the hiring never materialized.

Another proposal was that the general would be employed by Bautista’s company after his definitive retirement. The defense framed the request for cards from Bautista as a way to cover small initial representation expenses, as the general had only two months left before retirement.

Investigators were struck by Bautista’s ability to withdraw almost €60,000 in cash within four months—an “unusual practice” that only began after contacts with Espinosa and Navarro Tacoronte were established.

Team A: Private Chat with Businessmen

The Civil Guard also places the general at the center of Bautista’s attempts to secure solar‑panel contracts with major island companies such as Lopesan, Miguel Ángel Ramírez, and Eulen, via a private chat called “Team A.” According to the defense, the chat was merely created to organize a friends’ lunch during the period when Espinosa headed the Las Palmas Command.

Similar to the attempted hiring of the general’s lover, the proposed projects never materialized. In the chat, a Lopesan advisor tells the general, “We’ll do it, but you must know this isn’t normal—10 % above market price,” or “I’m meeting you because the general asked me,” referring to the businessman.

The Internal Affairs captain also referenced the seizure of the general’s residence, where more than €61,000 was found wrapped in clothing, shoe boxes and envelopes—resembling “narcotrafficking” operations. The general cooperated and indicated where the money was hidden.

“It’s a strange way to save money for someone who already had over €300,000 in bank accounts,” the captain said, adding that the cash was largely provided by Bautista.

The captain noted that the general kept a rudimentary accounting system, marking entries simply as “cash.” He also discovered an undisclosed Belgian bank account, not reported to the tax authorities. No payments linked to Bautista were recorded, but the account was used to transfer funds to the general’s lover.