The Civil Guard enters Ferraz and Transport to gather information on Cerdán and Ábalos

MadridThe Civil Guard entered the PSOE headquarters and the Ministry of Transport this Friday morning to gather information on Santos Cerdán and José Luis Ábalos. Specifically, following the order of the Supreme Court's investigating judge, Leopoldo Puente, officers from the Central Operational Unit (UCO) arrived on Ferraz Street in Madrid, where they remained for three hours, to clone the contents of the corporate email account of the party's former number three. They did the same at the former minister's headquarters, according to sources from both the PSOE and Transport Ministry. The move came after Puente decided to expand the investigation into alleged kickbacks in the awarding of public works contracts, naming five businessmen as suspects. The investigating judge also asked the National Court to charge two former Transport officials against whom he sees "consistent evidence."

These are former Adif president Isabel Pardo de Vera and former Director General of Highways Javier Herrero. The ministry contracts targeted by the UCO report of June 5, which led to Cerdán's resignation a week or so ago, were precisely bids by Adif and the Directorate General of Highways, allegedly irregularly awarded to several companies. The judge believes that Pardo de Vera and Herrero may have assisted Ábalos, through Koldo, to ensure that the contracts were awarded to these companies. Now, the ball is being passed to the National Court because, unlike Ábalos, Koldo and Cerdán engaged in conduct considered instrumental or accessory to the essential purpose of the scheme. The Supreme Court has also requested the awarding files of five projects from Adif, including the burying of the train tracks in Sant Feliu de Llobregat, and the General Directorate of Highways of six.

Although the simultaneous raids on the Socialist Party headquarters and the Ministry of Transport have been limited solely to investigating the activities of Cerdán and Ábalos, for the PP, "they prove that the party and the government have the most serious corruption case known to date in Spanish democracy," in the words of its leader. "We're going from scare to scare," Feijóo lamented in statements to the media, also pointing the finger at the current minister, Óscar Puente. "He's deceived us with an audit that said everything was clear," he said, referring to the examination of the contracts that the ministry commissioned when the commissioner Víctor de Aldama challenged a list of public works contracts in the Supreme Court. "No one has registered the Ministry, neither Adif, nor Ferraz, nor the Directorate General of Highways. They have requested an email to copy the files for five contracts with Adif and six contracts with the Directorate General of Highways. And this isn't the first time. Entries and records are another matter," Minister Puente responded.

New date for Cerdán to testify

At the same time, the judge also agreed to postpone Cerdán's statement as a suspect until Monday, July 30, due to the change of lawyer this week following the resignation of the previous lawyer, Gonzalo Martínez-Fresneda, who made the initial arrangements for Cerdán's new defense. The summons was voluntary. The person in charge is the lawyer and former CUP member of Parliament, Benet Salellas, who, in a document seen by ARA, argued that "at this time he does not have sufficient time to obtain the file, study the case, and prepare his defense strategy."

Over the past few days, more clues have emerged from the Civil Guard's searches of José Luis Ábalos's home and companies allegedly linked to the plot. Furthermore, the former Transport Minister's latest statements on SER (Spanish National Television) have left the former PSOE number three on the ropes. Ábalos, who yesterday, Thursday, expressed his willingness to reach an agreement with the Prosecutor's Office, will appear before the investigating judge next Monday, June 23rd. His former advisor, Koldo García, will also appear on the same day, with the question of what details they might provide that could further implicate Cerdán. The former minister has already started the investigation, telling SER (Spanish National Television) that Cerdán and Koldo, who already had a "previous relationship" from their time in Navarra, "pressured him to try to influence" hiring decisions. Unlike Ábalos, who until a week or so ago was the Socialist number three, he declined to make any statements to the media and emphasized that he will only speak before the judge to prove his "innocence."

The businessmen in question

One of the five businessmen summoned to testify before the Supreme Court between July 4 and 7 as investigated is Joseba Antxón Egurrola, the majority shareholder of Servinabar, a Navarrese construction company that, according to the UCO, Cerdán is also the owner of. A claim the company has denied. Also under scrutiny are former Acciona Construcción executive Fernando Merino, brothers Antonio and Daniel Fernández, from Public Works and Irrigation (OPR), and José Ruz, linked to Levantina Engineering and Construction (LIC). All are companies cited in the UCO report for alleged illegal commissions allegedly linked to the contracts the Supreme Court has sought from Adif and to which the Directorate General of Highways was awarded. The investigating judge also agreed to authorize the UCO to request banking information from them. A decision that has also been extended to Cerdán's accounts and properties.