The trainer of the “Coldo Case” of the Supreme Court (TS), Leopoldo Puente, will question a former director of Acciona and his subordinate, this Wednesday, for their connection to the public works completed by the construction company of the Union Temporal de Empresas (UTE) with Servinabar, the company at the center of the alleged conspiracy to manipulate those tenders in exchange for bribes.
This is Justo Vicente Pellegrini, who was construction director of Acciona in Spain until June 16, when the company dismissed him and dissolved all contracts with Servinabar after learning of the report from the Central Operations Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard that focused on several works awarded to UTE.
The judge also planned to question Tomás Olarte and Manuel José García Alconchil, directors of the northern region and southern region of Acciona Construction, who reported to Pellegrini and who were suspended from their duties by the company on November 18, when another UCO report focused on relations between the two companies and with the organization’s former PSOE secretary Santos Cerdán.
However, García Alconchel’s statement was postponed to December 15 because his lawyer was unable to attend the Supreme Court date on December 3 due to health reasons, according to legal sources consulted by Europa Press.
According to investigations, Cerdan owned 45% of Servinabar, along with his partner and “friend” Antçon Alonso, and later a third partner (4%) identified by the Benemérita family as John Aritz Santamaria.
According to researchers, the relationship between Servinabar and Acciona began in 2015, after the “Mina Muga” (Navarra) project. In fact, UCO not only places the origin of the UTE there, but also the alleged conspiracy.
The Armed Institute notes in its latest report that Acciona and Cerfinapar signed that year, a few days after the latter’s founding, a framework agreement to “explore future business opportunities” under which the second company would receive 2%.
This agreement was signed by Pellegrini on behalf of Acciona and Alonso on behalf of Cervinabár. UCO reports that the working relationship was channeled through both of them but also through Cerdan, Olarte and García Alconchel.
Acciona Construction Company denied paying commissions to any of the people named in the legal case, indicating that it reserves the right to take appropriate legal measures if investigations reveal any direct harm to the company as a result of the actions of those investigated or any other person.
“Additional Communications”, also with Cerdan
Regarding Pellegrini, the UCO reported that he “maintained regular contact with Antson, meeting in person on certain occasions, alone or with Santos,” in meetings that “would have been covered by security measures, such as communication through handwritten notes” that appear on screen during video conferences.
The researchers also point to other works developed by UTE – a motorway in Logroño, a bridge in Seville, and the Sant Feliu train – which have a total prize pool of more than 245 million euros.
The UCO explains that both Olarte and García Alconchel appear as signatories to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoE) signed by Acciona and Servinabar following the said awards.
In the case of García Alconchel, it also appears to be related to the work in the port of Kenitra (Morocco) chosen by ACCIONA. According to the Civil Guard report, Cerdan “extremely” joined an official trip undertaken by former Minister José Luis Albalos and his advisor Koldo Garcia in 2019 as part of a delegation from the Ministry of Transport in order to intervene in this matter.
The Civil Guard expressed concern about the alleged plot because the project was not thriving. “Morocco, you are being pressured from here,” Alonso told García Alconchel in a letter sent in December 2019.
Another former director of Acciona, Fernando Merino, is being investigated in this case, to whom the UCO attributes a close relationship with Koldo that would have had an impact on UTE’s alleged illegal awards.
Moreover, the coach believes that the construction company OPR, owned by brothers Antonio and Daniel Fernandez Menendez, Merino’s brothers-in-law, who are also under investigation, would have also benefited from it.
Puente ordered the searches of the homes of Merino and his in-laws, as well as Pellegrini and the headquarters of Acciona and OPR in two operations, the last of which was carried out last November.
More than 6 million euros from ACCIONA
The researchers estimate that the income received by the company Servinabar linked to Acciona amounts to “at least” 6,707,294.67 euros, which represents 75% of the total income in the investigation period, which amounts to 8,903,903.18 euros.
Regarding income outside Acciona, which they estimated at €2,196,608.51 – the remaining 24.67% -, they stated that it came mainly from transfers or receipts from other companies, “confirming” services for which it was not possible to identify the original company or project and subscribing to loans.
Regarding the outflow of funds abroad in these ten years, UCO estimates that it amounted to 9,701,121.96 euros, explaining that the majority of debts – 4,058,588.05 euros and 48.79% of the total – are transfers to natural and legal persons, expenses payments or other receipts, banking operations, card operations and other expenses, checks and commissions, as well as salary payments (20.98%), And taxes. (28.42%) and transfers to ACCIONA (1.80%).
La Benemerita identifies Cerdán and his family as clear beneficiaries of the alleged plot, by collecting salaries and paying rent – including the family home in Madrid until recently – and a credit card on which they spent more than 33,000 euros. “No Baki, all the saleswomen at El Corte Inglés know her,” Alonso even told his wife about the former socialist leader’s wife.