The UCO enters the headquarters of the PSOE, ADIF, the Ministry of Transport and the General Directorate of Roads

The Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard today entered the PSOE headquarters on Ferraz Street , at the request of the Supreme Court, to clone the corporate email of the party's former Secretary of Organization, Santos Cerdán , who is being investigated for allegedly irregular contract awards.

In addition to Ferraz, the agents have visited the Ministry of Transport and the ADIF and General Directorate of Highways facilities to request the information requested by High Court Judge Leopoldo Puente, Efe reports, citing sources close to the investigation.

The investigating judge today authorized a series of proceedings related to the Koldo case, including the recovery of Cerdán's corporate email, and is searching the rest of the institutions where the UCO is conducting investigations for contracts for potentially irregular public works contracts , Servimedia reports.

Socialist sources have told Europa Press that the judge ordered the PSOE to facilitate access to the judicial police and has also asked the Ministry of Transport to provide the email address of the former minister of that portfolio , José Luis Ábalos .

These are not searches but rather requests for information , Efe sources point out, as the Supreme Court judge, in a ruling released this Friday, rejected the request made by the popular accusations to search the PSOE headquarters and Cerdán's office, arguing that it is a measure that "limits rights" and would not be useful at this time. Transport sources have reiterated to Efe their "maximum willingness" to cooperate with the investigation.

In a ruling issued this Friday, the investigating judge requested that the PSOE allow officers "entry into its facilities to access and record (clone) any content that may be found in Cerdán's corporate email account." He also requested that the PSOE hand over to the UCO "any other email accounts that may be found" and that have been "exclusively used" by the former Socialist leader.

The judge made this decision after formally indicting Cerdán , who no longer enjoys immunity after resigning his seat as a deputy last Monday. This comes after the disclosure of the content of the UCO report, which places him at the center of an alleged scheme to rig public works contracts in exchange for commissions.

Files of 11 public works

The judge also requires Adif to send the Supreme Court—within 15 days —documentation relating to the awarding of five projects : one in Sant Feliú de Llobregat (Catalonia), for €51.7 million; two in Murcia , for €158.8 million and €121.1 million; one in Monforte (Galicia), for €1.4 million; and another in Asturias, valued at €592,053.

It also requests that the General Directorate of Roads provide documentation relating to the awarding of six projects : one in Logroño (La Rioja), for 92.4 million euros; one in Seville (Andalusia), for an initial amount of 71.4 million, which was later increased to 102.8 million; one in Asturias , for 7.3 million; one in Úbeda (Andalusia), for which the amount is not specified; one in Teruel , for 5.7 million; and one on the A-12 motorway in the section between La Rioja and Burgos , for 72.4 million.

These are the contracts identified by the UCO in its June 5 report. According to the agents, these contracts were awarded to Acciona Construcción, Obras Públicas y Irrigación (OPR) and Levantina Ingeniería y Construcción (LIC) , for projects destined for Andalusia, Asturias, Catalonia, Galicia, La Rioja, the Region of Murcia, and Teruel .

"If you do not have all or part of this documentation in your possession, you must indicate the specific agency where it is located," the instructor explained to Adif y Carreteras.

According to the document, this information "must be provided in digital format (certified copy), and must include all reports, studies, opinions, observations, and drafting proposals, whether or not they are mandatory, in a manner that allows the identification of the official who issued them, as well as orders, communications, and replies made by any means between the various parties involved."

The judge also requests that they provide the minutes of the meetings and a complete list of the actions carried out with those responsible.

Cerdán's arrival at the proceedings follows the report by the UCO (Central University of Catalonia) in which he is identified as the source of an alleged public works commission scheme . According to the agents, his role shifted: first diminishing to "manage payments" to Ábalos and Koldo— the bribes they allegedly obtained from Acciona alone amounted to €620,000 —and then finally rising again.

The UCO draws attention to "the discretion with which projects were awarded by the Ministry of Transport" and, specifically, finds it "particularly relevant" that Ábalos ordered Koldo to "speak with Santos before deciding anything," when "the latter did not hold any position within the Government."

In this new situation, Cerdán would have been relegated to "managing payments ." The Civil Guard details some of these "financial considerations" in its report. Specifically, the "payments allegedly emanating from Acciona, received by Ábalos and Koldo, and managed by Cerdán, amounted to €620,000, although, according to Koldo, €450,000 remain outstanding."

In the same 47-page ruling, the judge requests the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, "to issue the appropriate orders to ensure that the agents (...) are granted access to and recording (cloning) of any content that may be found in Ábalos's corporate email account for exclusive personal use." The investigating judge considers this measure "appropriate and necessary" and has not been agreed upon to date.