Spanish judge will try executives involved in Ferrovial Denver Airport kickbacks scheme

Subsequent to the recent decision by Denver International Airport to select a consortium led by Ferrovial Airports to privatize the airport’s Great Hall, a judge in Barcelona, Spain has decided to try those associated with a kickbacks scheme where it is alleged that Ferrovial paid money to influence the awarding of public contracts.
It has been claimed that Ferrovial partnered with two of Denver’s political insiders in order to submit the winning bid to take over the airport’s Great Hall. Despite requests, the airport has refused to make public all bids lodged and other documents which are associated with the project. This is in total contrast to the Colorado Department of Transport which has released all documentation associated with bids for its public infrastructure projects.
Despite Ferrovial already being selected, the public still has no knowledge of the proposed length of the public-private partnership, what competing offers the airport received, or the amount of public money that will go towards the project. The airport’s reasons for shortlisting bidders and selecting Ferrovial are not currently available to the public either.
According to the UNITE HERE Airport Group report, “A judge in Barcelona has collected evidence that Ferrovial allegedly paid bribes for large public works contracts. The Spanish judge has decided to try 16 people associated with the kickbacks schemes. Juan Elizaga, who was Director of Institutional Relations for Ferrovial and Pedro Buenaventura, who was Director General of Ferrovial Agroman, face a sentence of 4.5 years in prison and a 10 million euro fine.”
The Airport Group is the policy and development arm of UNITE HERE, the union for airport food and retail employees, with over 270,000 members in the U.S. and Canada, including 35,000 members in airport concessions and airline catering at 62 airports in North America. As a consequence of these developments, UNITE HERE will continue to monitor Ferrovial’s involvement, including bids, on a number of other projects, including:
Colorado Department of Transportation Central 70
Los Angeles International Airport Automated People Mover System
Northern Virginia I-66 Outside the Beltway project
California High Speed Rail Construction Package 4
Atlanta, Georgia I-285/SR 400
Charlotte, North Carolina I-77 HOT Lanes
Central Texas SH 130 Segments 5 and 6