The other links in the Cerdán case in the National Court

MadridThe Cristóbal Montoro scandal of alleged trafficking in laws during his second term in the Ministry of Finance has diverted the focus for a few days from the Cerdán case, also known as Ábalos or Koldo, which has been the focus of attention in recent months. However, this week the investigation against the former number 3 of the PSOE and part of the leadership of José Luis Ábalos' Ministry of Transport has two important appointments both at the Supreme Court and the National Court. This Monday (at 11 a.m.), Judge Ismael Moreno, who is presiding over the minor branch of the case of alleged illegal commissions in the awarding of public contracts at the National Court, will question the two main suspects. These are The former president of Adif, Isabel Pardo de Vera, and the former director general of Highways, Javier Herrero.

The bids targeted by the Civil Guard's Central Operative Unit (UCO) were granted by Adif and the Directorate General of Highways. The hypothesis is that those responsible may have assisted the ringleaders in securing the contract for companies that paid commissions. Moreno allegedly accuses them of organized crime, malfeasance, bribery, embezzlement, and influence peddling. Their testimony will have an impact beyond their own case and will affect the prospects of Santos Cerdán, the only suspect currently imprisoned, Ábalos, and Koldo García, the minister's former advisor. When they appeared as witnesses before the Supreme Court a few months ago, where the three protagonists of the case are being investigated, they denied any wrongdoing.

Several legal sources close to the case predict that both Pardo de Vera and Herrero will again deny the alleged corruption they are accused of, which will benefit the defense of those investigated in the main branch of the case, which Judge Leopoldo Puente is investigating at the Supreme Court. Upon arrival, half an hour before the appointment, the former president of Adif appeared calm and intent on testifying—she could invoke her right not to do so. Predictably, the public prosecutors in the case will request, as they have done with the other suspects, her imprisonment—although some of the aforementioned sources consider it unlikely that the judge will apply this precautionary measure once the UCO has already searched their homes. They will do so the day before a hearing is held at the Supreme Court to assess the possibility of Cerdán's release.

Cerdán's hearing

This Tuesday (10:30 a.m.) three Supreme Court judges, including Pablo Llarena, the instructor of the Proceso case, along with Juan Ramón Berdugo and Antonio del Moral, will hear the arguments for and against Cerdán's imprisonment. In the appeal In the lawsuit filed by one of the lawyers for the former Socialist number 3, former CUP deputy in the Parliament, Benet Salellas, an argument with a political component is deployed. Salellas maintains that Cerdán is the victim of a "general" and "prospective" case against him. On the other hand, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, which requested provisional imprisonment without bail, maintains that there is still a risk of destruction of evidence and that he remains in the Soto del Real penitentiary center.

The battle between these two narratives has been visible in the movements of recent days. While the UCO (Cultural University of Madrid) is increasing surveillance against Cerdán, even asking penitentiary institutions to report who visits him and when—one of the Civil Guard's obsessions is trace the money allegedly received from commissions and the means or accomplices to camouflage them without leaving a trace—Cerdán's defense insists that this method of operating against the former Socialist leader is not "normal." Salellas takes this argument to the extreme of questioning the veracity of the audio recordings in which Cerdán is allegedly heard speaking about the distribution of money with Ábalos and Koldo.

The evidence against Pardo de Vera and Herrero

Precisely in these recordings that Cerdán's defense now questions, there are several references to Pardo de Vera y Herrero. The former Minister of Transport states that Pardo y Herrero "must give something" to the broker Víctor de Aldama, also investigated by the Supreme Court, for his intermediation. Another element that compromises Pardo de Vera is that in the search they made at his home They found documentation related to contracts for 5 million masks with the company Soluciones de Gestión, the medical supplies contractor for which Aldama worked.