None to prison. In the early morning, the judge released the four people arrested in the "operación Hulla", although three of them, the former president of Montepío, José Antonio Postigo, the former advisor of the entity José Manuel Fernández, and the builder Juan Antonio Fernández, will have to go to court on days 1st and 15th of each month, but not the architect Manuel Sastre. Judge Begoña Fernández disregarded the request of the prosecutors of Anti-corruption, Carmen García Cerdá and Ignacio Stampa, who wanted to send Postigo, the builder and the advisor to prison, the first two with a bail of one million euros, and the other, of 400,000 euros. When released, accompanied by his lawyer, José Joaquín García, the former secretary of Trade Union Action SOMA just said: "I am very well, everything is going well, although it has been hard".
The four were arrested with a long string of alleged crimes: money laundering; falseness in official and commercial document; subsidy fraud; influence peddling; corporate offense of misappropriation; against public finances; prevarication; bribery; urban malfeasance and embezzlement of public funds, according to the note issued by the Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office.
The four were arrested last Tuesday -Postigo in Murcia- under the "Operación Hulla", developed by agents of the Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Spanish Civil Guard with the Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office under the guidance of the Court of Instruction n.3 of Oviedo, headed by Judge Begoña Fernández. Throughout the day, the agents carried out multiple registrations of several hours in both private homes and companies of the detainees. Also in the house of SOMA´s former leader, José Ángel Fernández Villa.
The testimonies of Postigo, the builder and the architect of Felechosa's works were brief. The one who talked the most was the former tax advisor, whose testimony lasted for almost two hours.
The security van of the Civil Guard with the detainees arrived at the Courts of Oviedo shortly before 2.00 pm. But the testimonies before the judge and prosecutors Carmen García Cerdá and Ignacio Stampa did not begin until 5.30 pm.
The hours went by slowly, and it was not until 11:30 pm when representatives of the public prosecutor left the courthouse. Postigo's mate, Dorina Bischer, and relatives of the other defendants were still waiting outside. It was still necessary to wait for the judicial order to know if the judge had handled the requests of the prosecutors. José Antonio Postigo, former president of Montepio de la Minería and a strong man from SOMA, appeared accompanied by his lawyer, José Joaquín Fernández.
