The Complutense University asks to act as a prosecutor against Begoña Gómez if the judge detects that there was an “economic damage” to the university

The Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) wants to investigate whether the chair that Begoña Gómez directed at said center, called Competitive Social Transformation, generated any “economic damage” to the coffers of the public body. The institution has sent a report to the magistrate Juan Carlos Peinado, who is keeping the case against the wife of President Pedro Sánchez open, where it indicates that an internal investigation by the UCM has not managed to reach any “definitive conclusion” in this regard —among other reasons due to the “lack of collaboration of certain participants,” the teaching body reproaches, without specifying who. Therefore, according to said document, it asks the judge to allow it to act as an accusation if he detects “misappropriation” at the expense of the teaching center. The content of this report by the UCM, dated July 1, was known this Wednesday while Congress held a plenary session that has once again pitted Sánchez against the main leader of the opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijóo (PP). In fact, a few minutes after the news was announced, the popular party member took the opportunity to attack the head of the Government: “The Complutense University is asking the judge to investigate your wife for misappropriation after finding evidence in an internal investigation. The morning is over, Mr. Sánchez. Go to your office and write the third and final letter,” Feijóo charged against the president. More information On June 18, the UCM asked to appear in the case as a private prosecutor, considering that it could have been harmed. Judge Peinado, who maintains that Gómez is accused of influence peddling and corruption in business, rejected this initiative two days later, after concluding that “there is no record of the harm that the university could have suffered.” Faced with such a setback, the teaching center has decided to send to the court a report of the internal investigation that it has opened on the chair that Begoña Gómez directed. The Complutense University has tried to find out “if there has been misappropriation of certain products that are considered to be the property of this university (platform or software)”, as well as irregularities in contracts and expenses executed within the “framework” of this chair. However, the public institution itself admits that it “has not been able to reach a conclusion” in this regard. “The research activities carried out do not allow this Complutense University to reach a definitive conclusion regarding the existence or not of damage to its assets: in particular, due to the lack of collaboration of certain parties involved, without this Administration being endowed with powers that oblige collaboration”, says the document sent to the court, to which EL PAÍS had access. And it adds: “Given the lack of cooperation […]to which is added the complexity of the current issue, this university considers that it will not be able to reach, by its own means, a definitive conclusion beyond the existing indications”. However, throughout its report, the UCM includes several reproaches. For example, the center explains that, “without the knowledge or participation of this university”, Begoña Gómez created a company called Transforma TSC, which “could give rise to, at the very least, confusion with the content and promoters of the agreement for the creation of the extraordinary chair for Competitive Social Transformation signed between the UCM and other legal entities”. According to the registry, this company's corporate purpose is “to promote and encourage the strategy of Competitive Social Transformation, integrating the objectives of sustainable development in organizations, to promote a more just society and a sustainable planet”. What affects most is what happens closer to home. In order not to miss anything, subscribe.CONTINUE READINGLikewise, through the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office, the university has found that there are two registered trademarks in the name of the president's wife: “TSC – Competitive Social Transformation” and “Transforma Social Impact Measurement Platform” [sic] and environmental”. “The UCM was not aware of the possible existence of such brands until the publication by the media of information referring to Gómez”, explains the report of the teaching centre. The judicial investigations against Begoña Gómez began on April 16, when the magistrate Juan Carlos Peinado opened proceedings after receiving a complaint from the pseudo-union Manos Limpias. The details of the investigation have not been clarified until now. But from the court's resolutions it follows that the relationship between Gómez and the businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés is being investigated; the links of the president's wife with the Complutense; and her connection with Javier Hidalgo, who was CEO of Globalia, the group that owns Air Europa – a company rescued by the Council of Ministers in 2020. The magistrate plans to question Begoña Gómez this Friday, after suspending her first appearance on July 5 because she had not been notified of all the documentation of the case. Following her statement as a defendant, the judge has also called as witnesses the current vice-rector for Planning, Coordination and Institutional Relations of the Complutense University of Madrid, José María Coello de Portugal, and his predecessor in the post, Juan Carlos Doadrio. The magistrate took this initiative after the rector of the institution, Juan Goyache, testified two weeks ago and denied the existence of irregularities in the relationship that Begoña Gómez has had with the UCM.