The new report from the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard sent to the Supreme Court, which investigates an alleged conspiracy to collect illegal commissions in exchange for work bonuses, indicates that Santos Cerdán, organizational secretary of the PSOE from 2021 to 2025, took important “security measures” to avoid leaving traces when he met and communicated in the summary with two other defendants: Joseba Antxon Alonso, owner of Mercantile Servinabar (a company that was linked to the same former socialist leader) and Justo Vicente Pelegrini, former director of Acciona for the Construction area in Spain. The agents point out that part of their meetings took place in the middle of the “tender process” for the suspected projects.
“During the ministerial phase in which José Luis Ábalos was head of the Ministry of Transport (2018-2021),” the UCO report insists, “Santos, Antxon and Justo held several meetings, among which stand out the security measures used, such as turning off mobile phones during meetings; the use of instant messaging applications such as Threema to ensure greater privacy and anonymity; keeping at least one meeting in a property rented by Servinabar; or communication via handwritten notes displayed on the screen during the video conference.”
Agents allege that Acciona executives paid commissions to the program to obtain the rewards. In this context, the Guardia Civil suspects that Cerdán operated as a “liaison” between the Ministry of Transport and the construction company – both through his relationships with senior Acciona officials, and through Joseba Antxon Alonso and Servinabar; as well as being the person who “managed” the bites he received. In other previous reports, the armed institute had already attributed 620,000 euros as alleged illegal compensation, of which part went to Ábalos and his former advisor Koldo García.
In the new document prepared by the UCO and sent to the Supreme Court this November, which details several meetings between the suspects (with photographs included), various pieces of evidence collected to demonstrate the security measures taken to avoid leaving traces are listed. For example, the Guardia Civil explains that Joseba Antxon Alonso and Santos Cerdán communicated through the instant messaging application called Threema, “known for its privacy and anonymity.” Furthermore, the agents intercepted a conversation in which the owner of Servinabar explains to his interlocutor that, during a meeting with the secretary of the Socialist Organization, they had kept the phone turned off.
The UCO adds that Cerdán, Alonso and Pelegrini also met, “at least on one occasion”, in a property rented by Servinabar, “thus ensuring greater confidentiality in the meeting”. And according to the police report, Alonso and Pelegrini held videoconference meetings, during which “handwritten notes” with information that they allegedly did not want to leave their mark were displayed on the screen. The agents connect this procedure with a conversation between Cerdán, Ábalos and their former advisor Koldo García; where Cerdán said: “I bring the paper, we write it and we see it, period” or “you don’t have to say many things… pun, you put it on, you see it and it breaks”.
