The National Court charges the director of the Civil Guard for the Leire Díez case

MadridThe National Court has indicted the director of the Civil Guard, Mercedes González, in the Leire Díez case and summoned her to testify on July 16. She is not the only official of the armed institute that the court considers under suspicion: it is also investigating the operational deputy director (DAO) of the corps, Manuel Llamas, for Díez's alleged maneuvers to halt investigations affecting those close to Spanish President Pedro Sánchez. Specifically, Judge Santiago Pedraz, who made this decision after the request from the Public Prosecutor's Office and popular accusers led by the PP, believes they may have committed crimes of prevarication and obstruction of justice.

However, the Spanish government maintains its confidence in these officials. After learning of the decision, sources from the Ministry of the Interior assure that González and Llamas will continue to exercise their responsibilities in the Civil Guard and that they "will cooperate" with justice. The PP and Vox, in any case, have already called for their resignation, as well as that of the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska. "Mercedes González has become Pedro Sánchez's Roldán," said the deputy secretary for institutional regeneration of the PP, Cuca Gamarra, alluding to the former director of the Civil Guard during Felipe González's government who was convicted of illicit enrichment after fleeing Spain.

What are the behaviors under suspicion now according to the Public Prosecutor's Office? Within the framework of the Leire Díez case, one of the reports from the Central Operational Unit of the Civil Guard (UCO) indicates that Mercedes González allegedly met up to three times with the former PSOE militant between 2024 and 2025. In a context where Díez, according to the police, would be the key figure of a group led by the former organization secretary of the PSOE, Santos Cerdán, to "destabilize" cases affecting the PSOE and those close to Spanish President Pedro Sánchez.

In one of her notes, Díez boasted about having a "relationship of trust" with González, whom she had previously known from the time when the current director of the Civil Guard was the delegate of the Spanish government in the Community of Madrid. However, in her appearance before the Senate, Mercedes González downplayed the meetings with Díez and argued that they were simple meetings for coffee. She also denied having participated in any conspiracy to hinder the investigations of the very police force she directs and assured that she cut off contact at the moment Leire Díez asked her to reinstate Commander Rubén Villalba, who is under investigation in the Koldo case, into the force. In fact, within the framework of the investigation, the UCO also indicates that the DAO Manuel Llamas, now also indicted by Santiago Pedraz, told the investigators that they had to "look the other way" in cases that had political implications.

The Public Prosecutor's Office's statement, accessed by ARA, considers that since 2021 a "criminal organization" was operating, dedicated to manipulating public procurement through public bodies, mainly SEPI (State Society of Industrial Participations), which evolved into a scheme aimed at obstructing judicial proceedings that could affect the Spanish government and the PSOE from 2024 onwards, when Sánchez took five days for reflection following the indictment of his wife, Begoña Gómez.

Furthermore, the public ministry considers that the alleged "penetration into SEPI mechanisms to obtain public contracts and benefit from them" would have extended beyond 2023 and has "indications of persisting to this day" —without further specifics–. Thus, the Public Prosecutor's Office believes there are sufficient indications that the collaboration of other public entities would have been sought, such as the Directorate General of the Civil Guard, the sub-directorate of nationalities of the Ministry of Justice —the scheme would have pressured to obtain nationality for Nervis Villalobos, indicted in different cases and alleged collaborator of the organization— or the Bank of Spain in order to curb the activity of the UCO investigators.

To indict Mercedes González and Manuel Llamas, the Public Prosecutor's Office relies on various statements made by Civil Guard agents throughout this month of June. They emphasize that a coincidence has been detected between the notes of Leire Díez, who pointed to the UCO as the author of leaks of cases affecting Sánchez's circle and also the Koldo case, and reserved information — a kind of disciplinary proceeding — that the Directorate General of the Civil Guard opened against agents who were investigating the facts.

In short, the public ministry considers that the political leadership of the police "instrumentally" used disciplinary proceedings to "pressure" judicial investigators, which it interprets as a possible crime of "obstruction of justice." In parallel, it notes that Mercedes González maintained contact with Leire Díez — with whom she activated the automatic message draft on WhatsApp — despite there being a police note informing of a PSOE campaign to discredit the UCO.

Information request to the PSOE

The indictment of the two political officials of the Civil Guard is not the only decision Pedraz has made this Thursday. He also requests information from the PSOE regarding the legal advice that Jacobo Teijelo, a lawyer for Santos Cerdán, would have provided to the party between 2024 and 2025. He asks for the identity of the PSOE person who signed the advisory contract.

It should be noted that the party acknowledges having hired the lawyer for his legal analysis for a cost of 125,000 euros, but assures that it rejected the last two invoices (worth 53,000 euros) upon learning of Santos Cerdán's indictment in the case of alleged commissions for public works. Teijelo, in his statement on June 25 before the National Court, stated that he had only performed his job as a lawyer. The investigators' suspicion is that the PSOE's payments to the lawyer were a kind of screen to hide, in reality, payments to Leire Díez and to finance alleged maneuvers to destabilize judicial cases involving the PSOE.