The Civil Guard suspects that Santos Cerdán had an "alternative financing source"

MadridOne year later, the long-awaited patrimonial report from the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard on Santos Cerdán has arrived. However, the four major conclusions do not have the forcefulness that, a priori, might be expected. Firstly, they have found €18,260 in cash income with an "apparently unknown origin" between 2014 and 2017, when Mariano Rajoy was still in La Moncloa. Secondly, they have detected a "reduction in expenses" via card and cash withdrawals from 2019 onwards, in a period that "temporarily coincides" with José Luis Ábalos's tenure as minister and the awarding of the contracts under suspicion to the construction company Acciona. Thirdly, the expense settlements declared by the PSOE and Congress were "higher" than the expenses they have observed as "susceptible" to being claimed. And finally, there are "cash income" made by Koldo García and Patricia Úriz – his ex-partner – to pay him the installments for a car rental.

The document, to which ARA has had access, expands the analysis of Servinabar, the company of Antxon Alonso, a Navarrese friend of the former number 3 of the PSOE. It concludes that 87% of its income came from Acciona or projects linked to this construction company, that 2.5% came from investigated companies, and 0.66% came from individuals or legal entities linked to Antxon Alonso. Likewise, it indicates that between 2015 and 2024, Santos Cerdán and some members of his family had profits of €323,000 from Servinabar.

What happened during Ábalos's ministerial tenure?

Throughout the 163 pages, the UCO alludes to José Luis Ábalos's "ministerial stage," as he was part of the Council of Ministers from 2018 to 2021, and the period when Acciona was awarded the investigated contracts. The Civil Guard believes there are "two trends" that are "indicative" of the "possible existence of an alternative funding source." Firstly, regarding card payments: "It is noteworthy that they were notably reduced in 2019, 2020, and 2021," the report emphasizes. Conversely, from 2022 to 2025, "an increase in card expenses is again observed."

Secondly, cash. From 2014 to 2018, he made cash withdrawals of more than 10,000 euros annually, but from 2019 onwards, "the need to have cash from his bank accounts would have disappeared." Withdrawals suffered a "drastic reduction" in 2019 and were "null" in 2020, 2022, and 2023, with a "one-off withdrawal" in 2021 to pay for some works: "The recurrent need for cash observed until 2018 would have ceased in 2019 or would have been met through a source of money not originating from bank accounts," the UCO summarizes.

Along these lines, the report provides another point: it has observed that especially in 2020, 2021, and 2022, the expense reimbursements from the PSOE and Congress – the money returned to him for having advanced it for activities related to his position – are "higher" than the expenses that the Civil Guard states he incurred, after analyzing all his payments with items such as "restaurant," "transport," or "accommodation." They even reached, for example, five times more in 2020 and twice as much in 2021. Faced with this scenario, the UCO believes there are two possibilities: Santos Cerdán claimed expenses that "were not paid by him" or "were not actually incurred," or – again – that he paid them with an "undeclared source of funds."

The 323,000 euros from his family

The UCO provides a table detailing the total money that Santos Cerdán's family benefited from. There is, for example, the rent of two of his houses in Madrid: 7,200 euros from 2017 to 2018 for the apartment on Cardenal Cisneros street and 47,500 euros for the one on Hilarión Eslava street from 2018 to 2019. Also, 3,560 euros used from Servinabar's bank card, 10,970 euros for the use of a Kia Sportage, and 6,000 euros for the purchase and sale of 1,300 shares. From his family circle, Antxon Alonso's company paid 57,700 to Santos Cerdán's brother-in-law and 22,300 euros to his sister. Likewise, there are 139,700 euros that the Erkolan cooperative paid to his sister and 9,500 euros from Noran and 18,730 euros from Loregen paid to his wife, Francisa Muñoz.