A nebula of alleged corruption plots gradually penetrates the bowels of Ferraz. Biting, improper attributions, contract rigging and influence peddling are closely linked in a tangle of interconnected cases through public companies and people with a dubious reputation, but which has as a common link eminent members of the PSOE and the government. Jose Luis Abalos And Santos Cerdan They already know the prison, but the investigations of the Central Operational Unit of the Civil Guard (UCO) and the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit of the National Police (UDEF) broaden the scope of action and several ministries are indicated.
Koldo affair and the mask plot
The Ministry of Transport is the main parent of the Koldo file. Under the leadership of Ábalos and through dependent companies such as Adif or State Ports Allegedly irregular contracts were signed for the purchase of masks and medical supplies during the pandemic, in exchange for commissions. In addition to the former minister and his former advisor, Koldo García, both in temporary prison since November 27, the other leader of the plot is the businessman Víctor de Aldama, who played the role of arranger.
The contracts were awarded to the ghost company Soluciones de Gestión SL, owned by businessman Juan Carlos Cueto, which went from almost non-existent activity in 2019 to billing more than 50 million from the public administration in 2020. This company also signed mask contracts with the Ministry of the Interior (Fernando Grande-Marlaska) and with the socialist autonomous governments of the Canary Islands (Ángel Víctor Torres) and the Balearic Islands (Francina Armengol).
SEPI and the rescues of Plus Ultra and Air Europa
The State Company of Industrial Participations (SEPI), which depends on the Ministry of Finance of María Jesús Montero, injected 53 million euros to save the Spanish airline Plus Ultra in 2021. It was a controversial rescue brought before the courts and of which the PP named former president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero as the architect, for his ties with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez and the regime of Nicolas Maduro. Recently, Ábalos’ son said in an interview that Zapatero pressured his father to approve the rescue. Although the court closed the case in 2023, the UDEF arrested this Thursday the president and CEO of the airline, Julio Martínez and Roberto Roselli, for alleged money laundering.
Before Plus Ultra, SEPI had saved Air Europa in 2020, for 475 million, another operation suspected because a UCO report indicates that Ábalos and Koldo negotiated with Aldama (hired as an advisor to the airline) to speed up this rescue in exchange for bites. According to Ábalos, Begoña Gómez, the wife of Pedro Sánchez, also contributed to the rescue because of her close relationship with Javier Hidalgo, CEO of Globalia, the business conglomerate to which the airline belongs and which sponsored events at the Africa Center, headed by Gómez.
These rescues were carried out through SEPI, whose former president Vicente Fernández, very close to Vice President Monterowas arrested this Wednesday in Madrid, along with the alleged PSOE plumber, Leire Díez, who allegedly worked under Cerdán’s orders. This Thursday, UCO agents searched the headquarters of SEPI and the public companies Sepides, Enusa (where Díez worked) and Mercasa to request documents relating to the case. In addition, this Friday they carried out searches in the Ministries of Finance and Ecological Transition, as well as at the Post Office (dependent on SEPI and where Díez also worked).
Cerdán, Servinabar and public works rigging
The UCO arrested businessman Antxon Alonso this Thursday, Cerdán’s partner in the Servinabar companywas investigated for allegedly collecting commissions in connection with irregular rewards. According to the UCO, Cerdán and Alonso’s company won 2% of the public works contracts that it obtained irregularly, thanks to temporary associations (UTE) with Acciona and with the mediation of the former number 3 of the PSOE.
Interestingly, Servinabar also hired former SEPI president Vicente Fernández when he had to resign in 2019. be charged with alleged fraud in the competition for the exploitation of the Aznalcóllar mine, a case in which he was ultimately acquitted. However, despite his resignation as head of SEPI, Fernández remained closely linked to the public company, according to sources in the organization.
Fernández was also a person of Vice President Montero’s greatest confidence, although the Minister of Finance also dissociated herself from his practices. “I don’t have no contact with this man since his departure (from SEPI). He had been at SEPI for barely a year and, therefore, I have no idea what this man was doing,” he told Congress on Wednesday.
Forestalia and the Ministry of Ecological Transition
This Thursday, UCO agents raided the Forestalia headquarters in Zaragoza as part of the operation that led to the arrest of Leire Díez and Vicente Fernández for allegations of irregularities in public procurement. This company in the renewable energy sector is “linked to the Susana Sumelzo family companytoday Secretary of State for Latin America and who was a great support for Pedro Sánchez during his primaries”, according to the PP.
Furthermore, Forestalia is linked to Servinabarthe company of Cerdán and Alonso, which, according to researchers, negotiated with Teresa Ribera’s Ministry of Ecological Transition to obtain prices, such as the high-voltage line project between Zaragoza and Vizcaya through Navarre, which ultimately did not come to fruition.
Hydrocarbons chart
It’s a case of massive VAT fraud (182 million euros) in the purchase and sale of diesel and gasoline through shell companies (Villafuel, Have Got Time or Gaslow) managed by Aldama and his associate Claudio Rivas. The UCO notes that there are “clues which point to possible penetration of the criminal organization at the management level of the Ministries of Transport, Industry and Ecological Transition”.
According to the Civil Guard, this “penetration” was possible thanks to Aldama and its direct access to Ábalos. The plot even contacted Minister Reyes Maroto’s chief of staff, Juan Ignacio Bidart, at the Ministry of Industry. who guided them towards the Ecological Transitionwhere they dealt with Marc Pons, Teresa Ribera’s chief of staff.
One of the businesswomen investigated in this plot is Carmen Panowho claimed to have delivered 90,000 euros to the PSOE headquarters in Ferraz, in the middle of negotiations to obtain the hydrocarbon exploitation license for the Villafuel company, owned by Claudio Rivas.
Case of “PSOE plumbers”
Leire Díez is also under investigation for attempting obstruct UCO investigations on the tangle of cases of alleged corruption affecting the PSOE. In this sense, last May, audio recordings were disclosed in which the alleged plumber of Ferraz proposed a pact with the Prosecutor’s Office to the businessman Alejandro Hamlyn, investigated for the Hydrocarbons plot, in exchange for compromising information on Civil Guard Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Balas. Businessman Javier Pérez Dolset, prosecuted for subsidy fraud and also alleged plumber from Ferraz, also participated in this meeting.
Likewise, Díez and Dolset tried to pressure prosecutor Ignacio Stampa to obtain sensitive information from the anti-corruption prosecutionaccording to a recording presented to the judge by Stampa himself; and they attempted to obtain information from judges and prosecutors regarding the investigation into the alleged irregular hiring of Pedro Sánchez’s brother at the Badajoz Provincial Delegation.
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