The Central Operational Unit of the Civil Guard has deployed an operation this Wednesday at the headquarters of the PSOE, located on Ferraz Street in Madrid, as part of an investigation into the alleged irregular financing of the party.
Agents have entered offices and rooms at the federal socialist headquarters and also have orders to inspect the homes of the former Secretary of Organization of the PSOE, Santos Cerdán, and the historic socialist leader Gaspar Zarrías, according to sources close to the case.
The action is part of proceedings directed by Judge Santiago Pedraz, head of Central Investigating Court number 5 of the National High Court, within the investigation related to Leire Díez and alleged irregularities linked to SEPI. The UCO went to Ferraz in compliance with a request for information from Judge Pedraz.
What the UCO is looking for at Ferraz
Investigators are looking for documents, files, communications, and computer equipment that could help reconstruct whether there was a sustained irregular financing operation within the PSOE.
The inquiries point to an alleged inflow of opaque funds into the party's accounts and a possible system designed to evade the control of the Court of Auditors. The investigation seeks to determine if the PSOE may have participated in various electoral processes with a larger budget than officially declared.
According to sources familiar with the proceedings, agents have authorization to request documentation at Ferraz and proceed with searches in case of a lack of collaboration from the socialist party.
Why Santos Cerdán and Gaspar Zarrías are involved
The inspection of the homes of Santos Cerdán and Gaspar Zarrías raises the political scope of the operation. Cerdán was Secretary of Organization of the PSOE and a key figure in the party's internal structure. Zarrías, for his part, was Secretary of State for Territorial Cooperation and a prominent leader in Andalusian socialism.
The investigation seeks to clarify what role both may have played in the alleged operation under suspicion and whether there are documents, communications, or evidence connecting their actions to the party's financing or to the proceedings linked to Leire Díez.
For now, the operation is in the investigation phase. The inspection of homes does not equate to a conviction nor does it by itself prove the commission of crimes, but it does show that investigators consider the personal and documentary environments of both leaders to be relevant.
The role of Leire Díez and the SEPI case
The procedure is related to the investigation into Leire Díez, a former socialist militant known in the media as the “plumber of the PSOE,” and her alleged contacts to influence awards or decisions linked to SEPI.
The case being handled by Pedraz is investigating alleged irregular awards in exchange for illegal commissions and the possible existence of a network of influence around public bodies. The UCO has been authorized to remove specific documentation related to that investigation.
The new element is that these proceedings are now connecting with the analysis of the PSOE's financing and with the possibility that a structure of opaque funds or parallel accounting existed at the Ferraz headquarters.
An investigation into alleged parallel accounting
The hypothesis that investigators are working with is that an operation may have existed to introduce undeclared money into the party's economic circuit. This alleged parallel accounting would have served to finance political or electoral activities outside of ordinary channels and official controls.
The UCO is working on messages, communications, and bank movements gathered over months of investigation. The objective now is to contrast these indications with internal party documentation and with material found in the inspected properties.
If the agents find documents that prove undeclared income, opaque payments, internal instructions, or irregular economic traceability, the case could enter a phase of greater criminal and political gravity.
Cash payments, one of the precedents
PSOE's financing had been under scrutiny for months due to reports of cash payments at the party's central headquarters. Suspicions intensified following intercepted conversations with José Luis Ábalos' former advisor, Koldo García, in which the collection of amounts in banknotes for anticipated expenses was alluded to.
Also under scrutiny were the explanations of the former party manager on the operation of the Ferraz safe, the use of money transported in armored vans, and the practice of cash payments to party officials.
The central question for investigators is whether these practices responded to ordinary administrative operations or if they were part of a broader irregular financing mechanism.