The same people but with a different hat: four secondary characters of the PSOE causes

MadridThe causes surrounding the PSOE have some common ground. One of these common denominators are the main investigated individuals – José Luis Ábalos, Santos Cerdán, and Koldo García – who appear in different courts. But another is people who had never been involved in politics, who were not initially on the radar, and who have ended up becoming key figures in the ongoing investigations.

Antxon Alonso, the Navarrese businessman friend of Santos Cerdán

A prominent protagonist who appears intermittently is Antxon Alonso, a Navarrese businessman who owns Servinabar. His name first emerged in the Civil Guard's report on Santos Cerdán. The two of them are friends. Initially, he was only investigated by the Supreme Court in the case of alleged irregularities in public works. When he testified, he denied the facts, but Judge Leopldo Puente confiscated his passport and prohibited him from leaving Spain.

The magistrate argued that, by collaborating with Santos Cerdán, José Luis Ábalos, and Koldo García, he “could have benefited” from public contract awards. The Civil Guard found a private document according to which Cerdán was buying 45% of Servinabar's shares, but both parties involved maintain that it has no validity because it is a draft that they did not make public. A second report from the UCO brought to light a symbiotic relationship between Acciona and Servinabar, in which the latter would supposedly receive 2% of the total contract awards received by the construction company. The judge argued that these could be “undue payments” in exchange for public works.

However, his judicial headache does not end here. Six months later he was arrested along with Leire Díez and Vicente Fernández –former president of SEPI– and he returned to the eye of the storm. All three met at the end of 2020 and share a group called Hirurok –us three– on Threema, a secure messaging application. The two prosecutors in the Leire case focus on him because they believe he participated in a “continuous dynamic of illicit intermediation in public contracting”. Investigators suspect that all three would have channeled the profits through two of their companies.

Carmen Pano, the businesswoman who says she took 90,000 euros to Ferraz

One of the cross-cutting elements is the businesswoman Carmen Pano. She came to light when she stated in a media outlet that she had taken bags with 90,000 euros to the PSOE headquarters on Ferraz street. Later she was arrested by the Civil Guard as part of the case concerning an alleged VAT fraud on hydrocarbons of more than 180 million euros, and was subsequently charged. Weeks later she testified as a witness at the Supreme Court in the Koldo case and ratified everything, without providing any proof.

And now why has she reappeared? Her name emerged in the Leire case because she claims that Leticia de la Hoz, Koldo García's current lawyer, tried to bribe her so she would not confirm before the judge that she had brought bags of money to the PSOE headquarters. Both before the Civil Guard and before the judge, she stated that the lawyer told her that there were "people from the PSOE" who wanted to "save their ass" for Ábalos and Koldo and invited her to think about what they wanted in exchange for changing her statement. Pano asked for 25,000 euros for her daughter's wedding, the payment of her house rent, and 15,000 euros for a car for her driver. According to her calculations, around 250,000 euros. Despite this, at the request of her lawyer, she finally backed down. She reiterated all of this last Monday before the judge reiterated it last Monday before the judge.

For her part, Leticia de la Hoz completely denies the facts. She assures that they spoke about "intermediation" in the search for a buyer for several hydrocarbon operators. De la Hoz claims that Carmen Pano and her driver even asked for an advance commission of 10,000 euros for the possible sale, but her firm closed the door on it when they detected that one of the companies had a debt of 470,000 euros.

Rubén Villalba, the Civil Guard commander involved in the Koldo case

The third is Rubén Villalba, a Civil Guard commander, who was arrested in March 2024 as part of the Koldo case. He was assigned to the Spanish embassy in Caracas (Venezuela) and the Ministry of the Interior dismissed him after the UCO pointed out that he had a “direct, personal, and permanent link” with Koldo García and Víctor de Aldama. Villalba continues to be investigated by the National Court, and recently a new report from the Civil Guard has detected €145,000 in cash income of unknown origin.

Declaring as a witness, he assures that he had met Leire Díez twice because she had “special interest” in meeting him: she asked him for compromising information about some agents. He is the one who claims that the PSOE's plumber told him that she wanted to carry out a “purge” in the Civil Guard, that she had links with “those at the top of the Spanish government” and that she had access to the “one of the party”. Precisely, the director of the Civil Guard, Mercedes González, who is under investigation, admitted that Leire Díez asked her to reinstate Rubén Villalba. She alleges that she refused and that after that she cut off relations with the then PSOE militant.

Claudio Rivas, Aldama's partner

Finally, Claudio Rivas, Víctor de Aldama's partner, also testified again. Three months ago he went to the trial of the mask case at the Supreme Court, but he remained scrupulously silent because he is being investigated in a hydrocarbons case. What link does he have with Leire Díez? He met twice with lawyer Jacobo Teijelo, who is also being investigated, but he has not yet explained what they talked about, invoking professional secrecy. Likewise, Carmen Pano maintains that the famous cash money she brought to Ferraz was related, precisely, to Claudio Rivas's activity in the field of hydrocarbons.