Why hasn't the judge acted 24 hours after imprisoning Cerdán?

MadridMore than 24 hours have passed since Santos Cerdán was placed in pretrial detention, the heaviest precautionary measure available in criminal jurisdiction, and the Supreme Court has not yet ordered any action to obtain evidence. Hiding, altering, or disappearing it was the risk that led to the deprivation of liberty. Why hasn't Leopoldo Puente acted yet? Why hasn't he searched his home yet?

The investigating magistrate ruled out such an intervention when Cerdán was not yet in prison, considering it would not be "useful." While he was free and aware that this was likely to happen, Puente decided not to send the Civil Guard to the home of the former PSOE number three, although in his ruling this Monday he admits that it would have been "possibly effective due to its unforeseeability" once the evidence against Cerdán became known; but his status as a member of Congress prevented it, the investigating magistrate laments. Investigative sources consulted by ARA refuse to clarify whether the suspect's home will be searched soon. Another pending and "indispensable" investigation, the magistrate points out, is Cerdán's "true financial situation."

In Monday's ruling, Puente already announced that there will be new actions in the investigation and that the "very numerous items already seized in the searches carried out" are still pending analysis. It should be recalled that on June 10, the UCO (Urgent Police Unit) visited the homes of people related to the case, such as businessman Joseba Antxón Alonso, owner of Servinabar and a close friend of Cerdán, and searched the headquarters of this company and other corporate and commercial offices in Granada, Navarra, Valencia, Vizcaya, and Toledo. Unlike Ábalos and Koldo, whose devices the Civil Guard has already been able to seize, the investigation into Cerdán is in a very early stage.

Cerdán's "preeminent" position

But that is not what primarily motivated Puente's pretrial detention. What primarily led the judge to deprive him of his liberty is that he believes Cerdán has information that the other alleged corruptors, Ábalos and Koldo, do not know, given that he attributes him a "preeminent" position in the scheme. "Cerdán should be the unequivocal connoisseur of the total amount of the improper payments, the specific procedure by which the successful bidder paid the agreed commissions or prizes (in cash, through third-party companies simulating nonexistent services, through transfers to individuals or legal entities) filed by the same. The extent of the specific responsibilities not only of the three investigated parties, but also within the framework of the companies allegedly involved in the corruption, as well as what would allow for the identification of the total amount of the improperly paid sums and the recovery, at least partially, of what is still possible," Puente writes.

The way the scheme worked "is not sufficiently clarified" in the current state of the investigation, the judge continues, so he sees a risk that if Cerdán remained free he could "hide, alter, or make relevant evidence disappear." It's no longer just a matter of tearing up documents, emphasize sources from the investigation consulted by ARA, but rather a matter of preventing, for example, Pedro Sánchez's former right-hand woman from "influencing the testimony of witnesses" who will soon be summoned to testify.