The UCO identifies Cerdán as the "liaison" between the Spanish government and Acciona.

MadridThe Civil Guard and the Supreme Court are making progress in the Cerdán case investigation. While the former Secretary of Organization of the PSOE has been in Soto del Real prison for almost five months, a new report from the Central Operational Unit (UCO) places him as a "liaison" between the Ministry of Transport and Acciona, the construction company allegedly involved in irregular public works contracts. In return, he or his associates received "personal profit" from Servinabar, the company linked to Santos Cerdán (according to the UCO). bought 45%, a version whose defense denies), which had a close economic link with Acciona. The Civil Guard report, to which ARA has had access, was the trigger for the records from last week at different Acciona and other locations indictment of three executives Those linked to the company have been summoned to testify on December 3rd.

The document details the "modus operandi" of the symbiotic relationship between Acciona and Servinabar, in which the latter (the company owned by Antxon Alonso) would receive 2% net of the total contract awarded to the construction company and would be "subcontracted" with "very specific" terms. This was "the common practice" in the contracts for the integration of the railway in Sant Feliu de Llobregat, the construction of the cables for the Centenary Bridge in Seville, and a section of the Logroño highway. According to the UCO's calculations, the 2% received by Servinabar represented at least 75% of the "payments received" by the company and, therefore, constituted its "main source of financing."

When asked about the report during a press conference with Volodymyr Zelensky at Moncloa Palace, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez reiterated that "from the very beginning" the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) "has acted decisively" and "has cooperated with the justice system," referring to the "summons" issued. Similarly, sources within the Spanish government once again distanced themselves from the alleged irregularities: "Being a criminal means not getting caught."

The "alleged payments received"

The UCO argues that both Santos Cerdán and his "family circle" allegedly "benefited" from a "portion of Servinabar's assets" and details the "alleged kickbacks" they received. For example, his wife received €9,500 while working at Noran (Servinabar was the cooperative's main source of funds), and his sister and brother-in-law were hired by the company and received a total of €77,000.

Furthermore, Servinabar "would have assumed" expenses related to Santos Cerdán's housing: a rent of 7,200 euros between 2017 and 2018, a rent of 44,600 euros from 2018 to 2019, and the purchase of furniture worth 7. The last element brought to light is that Cerdán and his family used a Servinabar credit card to "cover personal expenses" from December 2021 until February 2024, the day before Koldo García's arrest. According to UCO calculations, they would have spent 33,574 euros.

The "concern" over the "excessive" expenses

In fact, the report also mentions a conversation between Antxon Alonso and his wife, Karmele Atutxa, whose phone call revealed "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 Paqui. She spends and spends. And restaurants, weekend after weekend," Alonso lamented. "That's enough already. It's not just a matter of time. And on top of that, they're not discreet at all; we have to talk to her straight," his wife replied. "We've agreed to put a stop to it," he concluded.

A "high degree of privacy" in meetings and conversations

Furthermore, the Civil Guard reveals that Santos Cerdán, Antxon Alonso, and Justo Vicente (former Director of Construction at Acciona) wanted their meetings and communications to have a "high degree of privacy" and implemented "security measures" to protect themselves. For example, Alonso and Cerdán "turned off their mobile phones" during a meeting and communicated through the Threema application, which is known for its "privacy and anonymity." In addition, Alonso and Vicente held videoconference meetings in which they displayed "handwritten notes" on the screen regarding construction bids, thus covering their tracks (despite the fact that the UCO has included photos of what was displayed). Moreover, the three met in June 2019 at a property rented by Servinabar on Fuencarral Street in Madrid to ensure "greater privacy during the meeting." The report includes a photo found on Antxon Alonso's mobile phone showing Santos Cerdán sitting on the sofa with "who could be" Justo Vicente, "having a conversation," with a document containing "illegible" information "structured like a diagram" on the table. Finally, the UCO also details that on two occasions (June and November 2021), Santos Cerdán and Antxon Alonso met on Ferraz Street in Madrid, next to the PSOE headquarters.

An "international expansion" that reached Morocco

Finally, the UCO notes that the relationship between Acciona and Servinabar also experienced an "international expansion" during José Luis Ábalos's tenure at the Ministry of Transport, with two projects abroad: one in Morocco and one in Gabon. Regarding the first, which involved the awarding of the Port of Kenitra, a project of interest to Acciona, Santos Cerdán sent Koldo García the phone numbers of two Moroccan government ministers. "It would be good to get in touch with the number one these days while he's there," he suggested. "The ones below are completely trustworthy," he had previously indicated. Subsequently, Cerdán "instructed" Koldo to coordinate with his secretary so that he could join the official Spanish government delegation. And so it was. Regarding Gabon, the UCO detects an "interest" on the part of Cerdán and Alonso in Acciona collecting a debt of more than 20 million euros for the "completion of various road construction and maintenance projects."