"I think they'll ask you for the tax": the UCO suspects irregular financing of the PSOE

MadridThe suspicions of the Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard in the report implicating Santos Cerdán extend beyond the former number 3 of the party and the other two alleged members of the illegal commissions network formed with former minister José Luis Ábalos and his former advisor Koldo García. In some parts of the document, investigators point to the possibility that it was a practice that also benefited the PSOE and that there was a network of related companies, managed by Cerdán, whom the socialists could have benefited with public works contracts in exchange for financial compensation. The doubts generated by the report on the party's financing have led Pedro Sánchez to announce an external audit of its accountsNow, both he and his ministers have denied any possible irregular financing of the PSOE. What leads one to believe there could be irregularities?

The reason for dismissing Ábalos

It has never been clarified why the PSOE leader dismissed Ábalos, dismissed him as a minister, and appointed Cerdán, a member of the organization secretary's team and the one who put him in contact with Koldo, as the party's third-in-command. Sánchez has always denied that he dismissed him because he suspected or had evidence of corruption. The reason for removing his right-hand man is a mystery that haunts the Spanish prime minister, and suspicions are growing as more clues emerge that expand the network of those involved in the plot, such as Cerdán, about whom Sánchez said he had not smelled any trace of corruption until this Thursday.

The UCO report offers a new hypothesis and suggests that what led to the dismissal is not the discovery that they were collecting commissions from public works contracts, but rather that they were doing so outside of a hypothetical party clientele. According to the Civil Guard, Ábalos and Koldo allegedly conducted business with Levantina, Engineering and Construction (LIC), and Public Works and Irrigation (OPR) "behind the scenes" of the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), which angered Cerdán, who, however, allegedly approved and "managed" the payment of compensation.

Companies "out of the loop"

The Civil Guard reached this conclusion based on a conversation between Koldo and businessman José Ruz, a shareholder in LIC, with whom he maintained a fluid relationship outside of Cerdán's relationship and with whom he communicated through "secure telephone lines" since early 2021. The report also details how these contacts translated into pressure from the former advisor within the Ministry of Transport on the president of Adif at the time, Isabel Pardo de Vera, to award contracts to LIC in exchange for financial compensation for the former minister and himself. Once Ábalos was removed from the Ministry of Transport, in September 2022, Ruz had a conversation with Koldo that, according to the Civil Guard's interpretation, revealed that there were companies that the PSOE deliberately benefited with contracts and others that, in contrast, were left "out of the loop," in the businessman's words.

Ruz expressed his willingness to meet with Cerdán ("the Navarrese") to complain that "it's enough to have innocent victims," referring to companies outside the socialist network, supposedly managed by the former number 3 of the party, which did not benefit from the contracts. The UCO concludes that Ruz uses the term "cattle raising"in reference to the party and the report points out as a "relevant aspect of these messages" the fact that the businessman maintains that "leaving these companies out would not be convenient for thecattle raising"or that she was responsible for the companies being sidelined."

"They'll ask you for the tax."

Another move that raises suspicions at the UCO is alleged contact between the PSOE manager, Ana María Fuentes, and the Director General of Highways, Javier Herrero. Some of the contracts under suspicion were actually tendered by that directorate general. The report records how in March 2022, Koldo warned Herrero that the party's management—taken over by Fuentes "at Santos's initiative a few months earlier"—had asked him to give them his phone number. "I think they'll ask you for the tax," the former advisor warns. Hours later, Herrero explains to Koldo that "they had sent him a form but hadn't specified the amount."

"80% was to be given to the party"

Another indication, according to the UCO, of this alleged irregular financing is Cerdán's attempt at the end of 2018 to obtain a position at Indra, which is partly publicly owned, so that "he could have another source of income that would allow him to cover his family expenses in Madrid." Faced with the refusal from Sánchez himself regarding the fact that it was a "listed company," Cerdán complained in a conversation with Koldo that she hadn't been placed in the company she wanted. "The one who loses the most is the party," asserted the former number 3 of the PSOE, who stated that "80% [of his salary] was to be given to the party."

However, this Friday, the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, limited the Cerdán case to "individual" behavior by party members. "There is nothing to hide," agreed the Minister of Digital Transformation, Óscar López. These suspicions have led ERC to warn that "if this is not an isolated case," its parliamentary group will withdraw its support for Madrid. Sumar has even been open to requesting that Sánchez submit to a vote of confidence, but the Spanish government has quickly ruled this out. Alberto Núñez Feijóo has continued to pressure Sánchez's partners, accusing them of "facilitating and maintaining corruption." The PP leader has predicted that the case will end with both the Spanish government and the PSOE.