From the hiring of family members to the "excessive purchases" of Cerdán's wife: the key points of the UCO report

BarcelonaNew developments in the Cerdán case have multiplied in recent hours. This is because Judge Leopoldo Puente, who is investigating the alleged corruption scheme at the Supreme Court, lifted the secrecy order on Tuesday. the latest report from the Civil Guardwhich tightens the net around the former number three of the PSOE. The importance that the magistrate gives to the evidence collected and the fact that the risk of its destruction has disappeared have even led him to release Santos Cerdán on bail, imprisoned in Soto del Real since July.

The report, dated November 11, is up to 227 pages long and includes documentation, photographs, and communications between those under investigation, including former minister José Luis Ábalos and his advisor, Koldo García. The report, which ARA has accessed, prompted last week's raids on the construction company Acciona, one of the companies allegedly involved in irregular public works contracts. We review the main points:

Cerdán, "the link" with the Spanish government

One of the report's headlines, on page 34, refers to the "evidence" that places Santos Cerdán as a "link" between Acciona and the Ministry of Transport in the alleged scheme of irregular contract awards. Investigators suspect that the former Socialist leader acted as an intermediary to facilitate public works contracts, either through direct contact with the construction company's executives or through Servinabar, a company owned by Joseba Antxon Alonso and also linked to Cerdán. They insist, in this regard, that the former number three of the PSOE owned 45% of the company, something his defense denies.

2% Commissions

According to the Civil Guard, Acciona paid 2% of the total net value of the contracts it received from Servinabar, citing as examples projects in Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Seville, and Logroño. The UCO (Central Operative Unit of the Civil Guard) indicates that it paid this company €6.7 million for "very generic" services, representing 75% of the company's revenue during the period under investigation. The report even goes so far as to say that the alleged commissions from Acciona were Servinabar's "main source" of funding.

Personal expenses and hiring of family members

The UCO (Central Operative Unit of the Civil Guard) details the alleged "concessions" that Cerdán and his associates received from Servinabar. On the one hand, the company allegedly paid the rent for apartments belonging to the former number three of the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) between 2017 and 2019, for a total of 51,800 euros. Furthermore, both he and his family allegedly used a company credit card to pay 33,574 euros in "personal expenses"—shopping, meals, and trips to Málaga, Seville, Ibiza, and Tenerife—until February 2024, just the day before Koldo García's arrest. According to the report, Cerdán's sister and brother-in-law were also hired directly by Servinabar and received a total of 77,000 euros.

Cerdán's wife's "excessive" purchases

Among the communications intercepted by the UCO and included in the document, one stands out. It's a WhatsApp conversation between Antxon Alonso and his wife, Karmele Atutxa, which reveals a certain concern about the "excessive spending" of Santos Cerdán's wife, Francisca Muñoz, known as Paqui. "All the saleswomen at El Corte Inglés know her. Spending and spending. And in restaurants every weekend," Alonso lamented. "That's enough. This isn't the way to behave. And on top of that, they're not discreet at all; we both need to address this and talk to her straight," Atutxa replied.

The "privacy" of the meetings

The report highlights that Cerdán, Antxon Alonso, and Justo Vicente, former construction director of Acciona who was summoned as a suspect this Tuesday, wanted their meetings and communications to have a "high degree of privacy." In this regard, the UCO maintains that they took alleged "security measures" to protect themselves: turning off their phones during meetings, using an encrypted mobile messaging application, and noting information about bids in "handwritten notes" to cover their tracks.

The "international expansion" of the scheme

Another key point in the Civil Guard document is the alleged "international expansion" of the dealings between Acciona and Servinabar. It mentions a project in Morocco related to the awarding of the Kenitra port concession and the "completion of various road construction and maintenance projects" in Gabon. In both cases, according to the report, "some form of involvement" has been detected on the part of Ábalos, Koldo García, and Cerdán, who allegedly intervened through the Spanish government to ensure the projects went to Acciona.

The mention of the PNV

One of the most striking details in the UCO report is its mention of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV). It alleges that the Basque party "requested" Cerdán "the appointment of three public officials" after Pedro Sánchez—and therefore Ábalos—came to power in the Spanish government in 2018. The supposed objective was to secure a position in the Ministry of the Environment and obtain "an important post at Adif" and another at the State Industrial Holdings Company (SEPI). The PNV has already categorically denied that the party made any such requests.