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 approval of the Supreme Court's investigating judge, Leopoldo Puente, officers from the Central Operational Unit (UCO) arrived on Ferraz Street in Madrid to clone the contents of the corporate email account of the party's former number three. They did the same at the ministry's headquarters to access the corporate account for use and transport. This move comes 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 Roads 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 from 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, in ensuring that the contracts were awarded to the companies involved in the scheme. However, the matter is now 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 is requesting the award files from Adif for five projects, including the contract for burying the train tracks in Sant Feliu de Llobregat, and from the Directorate General of Transport for six projects.

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 are facing 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 contracts that the ministry commissioned when 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 at Adif and six contracts at 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 testimony as a suspect on Monday, July 30, due to his change of lawyer this week. Cerdán's new defense team had requested more time to prepare for the June 25 statement, which, unlike the new summons, was voluntary. This week, the lawyer and former CUP member of Parliament, Benet Salellas, took over. In a document obtained by ARA, he argues that "at this time he does not have sufficient time to obtain the file, study the case, and prepare his defense strategy." The former PSOE number three was scheduled to testify next Wednesday, just one week after changing his lawyer due to the resignation of his previous lawyer, Gonzalo Martínez-Fresneda, who made the initial arrangements in the case.

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 testify before Puente next Monday, June 23rd. His former advisor, Koldo García, will also testify that same day, leaving it unclear what details they might provide that could further implicate Cerdán. Unlike Ábalos, who until just 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." "Until I know the case, which my lawyer and I are still reviewing, I will not make any statements," he warned.

Ábalos, on the other hand, has opted to turn on the fan and has accused Cerdán of having "used" him. Although the former minister and predecessor as secretary of the PSOE's organization denied having received illegal commissions or that there was illegal financing in the party, he did assure SER that Cerdán and Koldo "pressured" him to try to influence" hiring. According to Ábalos, "they came with a previous pattern" of corruption in Navarre, in which they had already collaborated during their previous stage in regional politics. One of the elements that point to this alleged modus operandi A prior link is Cerdán's connection to the construction company Servinabar, which is allegedly linked to the illegal kickback scheme and which, according to the Civil Guard investigation, is owned by the former Socialist leader, who would hold 45% of its shares. This claim was denied by the company itself in a statement on Thursday. In fact, the Supreme Court judge rejected Cerdán's defense's request to provide "the original document" proving this ownership. The judge reminded them that it is already included in the Civil Guard report and ordered a copy to be provided.

The businessmen named

One of the businessmen Judge Puente has summoned to testify between July 4 and 7 as a suspect is Joseba Antxón Egurrola, the majority shareholder of Servinabar. Also summoned are former Acciona Construcción executive Fernando Merino, brothers Antonio and Daniel Fernández, from Obras Públicas y Irrigación (OPR), and José Ruz, linked to Levantina Ingeniería y Construcción (LIC). All are companies cited in the UCO report for alleged illegal kickbacks. 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.