The National Court demands banking and tax information from PSOE and PSC since 2024

BarcelonaThe same day that the judge authorized the Civil Guard to appear at the PSOE headquarters in Madrid, from Carrer Pallars in Barcelona, the PSC sent all the documentation related to its 2024 electoral campaign. Although the request was addressed to the PSOE, the Catalan socialists wanted to get ahead by emphasizing that everything was transparent and audited by the Court of Accounts. With this information, the Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the armed institute is not satisfied and has filed a claim for additional information with the National Court, which Judge Santiago Pedraz has accepted.

The magistrate has made the request to the Tax Agency to send all documentation from 2024 and 2025 related to the PSOE and also the PSC and the individuals investigated in the case. Pedraz requests "bank accounts, deposits, withdrawals, cash collections, securities transactions, income, checks, investment funds, securities, real estate, etc.". Quickly, the PSC reacted by assuring that it has not received any request and that, in any case, it "will continue to collaborate with total transparency with whatever is necessary when it is necessary". The National Court also requests from various banks the movements that have occurred in the PSOE accounts since 2024 and the relationships between the socialists and the communication company Iki Group.

The National Court suspects that in some of the invoices, payments to the alleged network led by Santos Cerdán and Leire Díez could be hidden. In the case of the PSC, according to the investigators, there are 20,000 euros that would have gone to Crónica Libre, a media outlet created by Leire Díez herself and the journalist Patricia López. But the PSC flatly denies that they placed advertising there and also that they did so through Iki Group, the intermediary company mentioned in the case summary.

The campaign for the Catalan elections of 2024 began on April 26 and the judge is looking for a payment around May. On what basis are the police investigators relying? In the court file, they cite two news articles from El Confidencial, in which several audios altered digitally can be heard so that the speakers cannot be identified.

Person 1: Was it 20,000 euros?

— Person 2: Yes.

P1: And they pay you for this?

— P2: They give it to me with a Salvador Illa campaign in the newspaper.

P1: Agreed. I haven't found this campaign in Crónica Libre.

— P2: Man, because we took it out as soon as the elections passed, don't screw with me.

P1: Okay, I'll look for it because, anyway, it has to be there. Even if you've removed it, there must be a trace of the campaign, because they would be your articles.

— P2: No, no, they were just banners.

P1: Ah, they were just banners. Damn, they pay well for banners.

— P2: They were well paid.

[...]

— P2: Of course there are invoices, it's an advertising campaign, but I didn't invoice the PSOE, but rather a media company that they chose.

P1: Ah, okay. Logical. The media company that's running the campaign for Mr. Illa.

— P2: Clear.

The criminal indications, then, stem from these unidentified audios –it is understood that one of the persons (P2) worked for the plot– published in March by El Confidencial. , to promote the city within the framework of the Fitur fair.

What was Crónica Libre

This invoice is brought to the case by journalist Patricia Isabel Espinar, who in 2023 was a founder of Crónica Libre alongside the late Patricia López, Ana Romero, Rosa Villacastín, and María Burguillo. Espinar testified as a witness last week at the Civil Guard facilities in Tres Cantos (Madrid) and only pointed to the advertising contract for the European elections.

died of cancer last Decemberwhich was made in January 2024, to promote the city within the framework of the Fitur fair.

What was Crónica Libre

In last week's statement, Espinar also declared that Leire Díez was at Crónica Libre from the beginning, but that her role became more prominent from March 2025. In any case, she acknowledged that the outlet's exclusives were based on José Manuel Villarejo's audios: Patricia López and the businessman Javier Pérez Dolset "managed" a shared folder where the summaries of all cases linked to the former commissioner were stored.

Although the Crónica Libre website remains active, no news has been published there for months. Its director, Patricia López, died victim of cancer last December. The summary also includes the intention to sell the outlet for one euro to a company directed by Leire Díez.

The origin of the plot

The judge places the origin of the alleged plot on April 26, 2024, at the PSOE headquarters. Before that, there may have been a more or less active group without the party's participation, but Santiago Pedraz believes that meeting marked "a turning point" and that from then on the Socialist Party could have endorsed the actions of Leire Díez's group. That day there was a meeting where, in theory, it was decided that work would be done to counteract the investigations of Sánchez's wife, his brother, and others through an alleged criminal plan. The then PSOE organization secretary, Santos Cerdán; the party's communication director, Ion Antolín; the militant Leire Díez; the businessman Javier Pérez Dolset, and Juan Manuel Serrano, who was Sánchez's chief of staff at the PSOE and director of Correos, spoke about it.

That meeting coincided with the five days of reflection that Pedro Sánchez gave himself to decide whether to withdraw from politics in the face of judicial accusations against members of his family. It also coincided with the election campaign in Catalonia, which opened the doors of the Generalitat to Salvador Illa. For this reason, Pedraz finds it plausible that Illa's campaign was used to disguise some payment intended to finance the plot.