The businessman arrested for the theft of masks denies the crime
The businessman arrested for the theft of two million masks on a ship in Santiago de Compostela has denied on Tuesday that he committed any "theft crime".
The man, J. Conde, who was released on Saturday after going to court and is under investigation for the alleged commission of a crime of robbery with force, has sent a statement to the media in which he insists that "he did not commit no theft crime. "
According to his version, access to the warehouse located in the Tambre estate in Compostela and owned by a company that sells sanitary equipment, "was always carried out with authorization" since, he says, was in charge of selling the warehouse since the company is currently in bankruptcy.
The investigated also denies that the masks have been disposed of "neither in the quantity nor in the value" that is said, since the Autonomous Police calculate that the value of the stolen amounts to about 5 million euros.
While he is involved in a judicial investigation, the accused requests that his "presumption of innocence" be respected.
However, a police chief who visited the factory on Monday, accompanied by the Galician vice president, Alfonso Rueda, remarked that agents from the police unit attached to Galicia detained this businessman who is "without any doubt responsible" theft.
The police chief explained that the operation arose when they learned of the existence of this material and asked them to collaborate to try to recover the masks and make them available to emergency teams.
After obtaining the permission of the bankruptcy administrators to access the ship, they found the empty boxes of masks and gloves, in addition to other material.
At this time the investigation continues in Portugal, in collaboration with the authorities of the Portuguese country, since the investigators consider that the material was sold in that country.