Vice president Aragonès looked abroad for funding for independent Catalonia, police officer tells court

Day 20 of the trial of pro-independence leaders accused of organizing the 2017 referendum began on Thursday with testimony from another Guardia Civil police officer, who spoke about allegedly incriminating material found during raids of public buildings.

Having taken part in the raid of the economy ministry on September 20, 2017, the officer said documents were seized that showed the Catalan government was preparing to fund and organize Catalonia as an independent country.

In his testimony, the officer claimed evidence was discovered that the Catalan vice president, Pere Aragonès, who was then the economy secretary, was traveling abroad looking for international funding, and he mentioned a trip Aragonès made to Slovenia. Meanwhile, said the officer, the then finance secretary, Lluís Salvadó, was preparing to levy all taxes through the Catalan administration. 

The officer also said an email showed a request for 11 billion euros from China to fund the first steps of an independent Catalonia, while an invoice to the IBM company was found for €240,000 to develop a program for levying taxes through the Catalan tax office.