The central operational unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard went this Wednesday early morning to the national headquarters of the PSOE, on Ferraz street in Madrid, to request documentation as part of the investigation into the so-called Leire case, according to police sources confirmed to La Vanguardia.
Read more Press like drinking water
The UCO’s entry into Ferraz coincides with the start of the Government Control Session in the Congress of Deputies, marked by the absence of the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, who is in Rome, where he will meet with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican.
Also read
Sánchez is also expected to hold a press conference, the first since the indictment for money laundering of former president Zapatero.
This operation began this morning at the request of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and by order of the National Court judge Santiago Pedraz within a secret part of the case known as the PSOE “plumber” Leire Díez.
In December, the UCO arrested Díez and Vicente Fernández, former president of the State Society of Industrial Participations (SEPI) and one of the former trusted men of the Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, as part of an investigation into corruption.
Read more Iñaki Gabilondo: “Journalism consists of explaining what people have the right to know”
Díez’s name emerged last year after audios were revealed in which she presented herself as the “right hand” of the then PSOE Organization Secretary Santos Cerdán, who ended up in prison last summer – and now released – for leading the plot of former minister José Luis Ábalos to obtain kickbacks from businessmen in exchange for public works contracts.
In this case for which Díez was arrested in December, and which remains secret, the investigation revolves around possible rigging and influence peddling committed from 2021 onwards, when Fernández was no longer at SEPI but could have used his contacts and relationships to enrich himself illicitly.
At the center of the case is Servinabar, a Navarrese company owned by Antxon Alonso, a friend of Cerdán, through which the socialist could have received payments and through which possible commissions could have been channeled, according to the investigation.
In fact, UCO investigations uncovered that the former PSOE Organization Secretary would have signed a private contract to obtain 45% of the company although it was never made public.
Read more More galleries than nightclubs
