The new report of the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard incorporated into The Cerdan caseto which EL PAÍS had access, lists a series of evidence collected on the alleged plot led by Santos Cerdán, former Organization Secretary of the PSOE (2021-2025), to collect illegal commissions (from Acciona, among other companies) in exchange for influencing the awarding of public works projects. In 227 pages, investigators put on the table multiple documents, photographs and intercepted communications to strengthen their suspicions against the former socialist leader, who allegedly operated together with José Luis Ábalos, former Minister of Transport, and his former advisor Koldo García. These are some keys to the police document:
Cerdán, “the connection”. UCO presents one of its major conclusions shortly after beginning its analysis. Agents say there are already enough “clues” in the case to place him as the “link” between Acciona and the Ministry of Transport, headed by Ábalos. In a previous report, prepared through the intercepted recordings of Koldo García, the Guardia Civil had put on the table the suspicion that Cerdán “managed” the collection of bribes, which he would then share with the former minister and his collaborator. To strengthen this thesis, researchers are now delving into the ties that unite the Navarrese socialist with the managers of Acciona and with Servinabar, the company chaired by Joseba Antxon Alonso, and which also link him to Santos Cerdán.
2%. The agents point out that, in the suspicious projects in Logroño, Seville and Sant Feliu de Llobregat (Barcelona), “a joint operation was observed through which Acciona and Servinabar” signed “a memorandum of understanding before the start of the work file”, which served this second company (the control of which is attributed to Cerdán through Joseba Antxon Alonso) to obtain “2% net of the premium amount”.
Servinabar control. In another previous report, the Guardia Civil had already reported that it had found a private contract with which, in June 2016, Alonso transferred 45% of Servinabar’s shares to Santos Cerdán. Now, the agents explain that they have found a second contract which strengthens the hypothesis that the former Secretary of the Organization had enormous “decision-making capacity” in the said company, presumably used as an intermediary to obtain public works projects. Investigators point out that, in December 2016, an “individual under the name ‘AritzSantamaría’ allegedly acquired” 4% of Servinabar, but that percentage came from Alonso’s share and Cerdán’s share was “respected”.
Furtive encounters. Through the intercepted communications, the agents reconstruct (with photographs included) several unknown meetings of the former socialist leader with two other defendants in the conspiracy: with Joseba Antxon Alonso himself and with Justo Vicente Pelegrini, former director of Acciona for Construction in Spain. The armed institute outlines a sort of triangle of influences, where the three met and maintained communications with considerable “security measures” to avoid leaving traces. The agents, who detected meetings in the legendary Madrid bar El Penta and near Via Ferraz, underline that some of these took place in the middle of the “tender procedure” for the works.
Addiction to Acciona. The summary reflects a relationship between Acciona and Servinabar, whose business was heavily dependent on the company Ibex 35. “The income related to Acciona received by Servinabar – from its establishment until the date of receipt of the banking information – amounts to at least 6.7 million euros. This figure represents 75.33% of the total income received by the company in the period investigated, from which it can be deduced that its relationship with Acciona would have been its main source of income”, say the agents.
Personal expenses and hiring family members. The UCO claims that Cerdán used a Servinabar credit card for personal expenses, as well as pointing out that this company paid him the rent of two houses in Madrid and had his sister and sister-in-law paid. Among the suspected expenses are subscriptions to El Corte Inglés, restaurants and trips to Malaga, Seville, Ibiza and Tenerife. To reaffirm the indications, the agents reproduce a conversation between Joseba Antxon Alonso and his wife, where she says, referring to the politician’s wife: “La Paqui. All the shop assistants at El Corte Inglés know her” or “You spend and spend. And restaurants every weekend. That’s enough for them. Everything good, the best. It’s not a plan. And then they’re not discreet at all. You have to take her among you and speak to her clearly.”
The Guardia Civil identified five other transfers issued by the Noran Coop cooperative, allegedly used in the plot, to Cerdán’s wife, Francisca Muñoz, worth 9,500 euros. In fact, the UCO found a pay slip (from March 2018) which proves, according to officials, that the wife of the former socialist leader also joined this company.
Take a trip abroad. Investigators describe how the plot would extend its tentacles beyond Spain’s borders. “The Acciona-Servinabar relationship also had an international expansion,” indicates the UCO report, which adds that both companies “have shared interests” in at least two projects abroad (in Morocco and Gabon) in which “some participation of Ábalos, Koldo and Santos was detected.” The Guardia Civil suspects that Cerdán and Ábalos used their influence to carry out works for Acciona in both African countries.
The PNV, cited. This new relationship leaves another group involved: the PNV. The agents claim that “the Basque political group would have asked Santos Cerdán to nominate three public positions, on the occasion of the formation of the government that was taking place after the censure motion presented in 2018”. This alleged request was to retain a senior official from the Ministry of the Environment; and for “an important position in the ADIF” and “an important position in the INI (sic) or SEPI”. The nationalist party dissociated itself from the plot this Tuesday: “The PNV is not aware of these alleged requests”, specified sources from the sovereignist political force.
