The judge is investigating whether Pardo de Vera committed up to five crimes in irregular awarding of contracts.

National Court Judge Ismael Moreno is investigating whether former ADIF president Isabel Pardo de Vera may have committed up to five crimes for her alleged involvement in irregular contract awards under José Luis Ábalos's leadership at the Ministry of Transport.

Just a few days after the Supreme Court forwarded a series of clues against Pardo de Vera and the former Director General of Highways, Javier Herrero, the National Court judge agreed to open a separate secret case and ordered the Civil Guard to search their homes.

He did so after seeing evidence of alleged crimes of belonging to a criminal organization, bribery, influence peddling, malfeasance, and embezzlement of public funds, according to the order ordering the search of Pardo de Vera's home in Santiago de Compostela, to which EFE has had access.

José Luis Ábalos, who headed the Ministry between 2018 and 2021, when Pardo de Vera was president of ADIF, is under investigation by the Supreme Court for alleged criminal organization, influence peddling, and bribery, although the judge has also pointed to possible embezzlement in some rulings.

Ismael Moreno, presiding judge of Central Investigation Court No. 2, agreed to charge the former president of ADIF and former Director General of Highways Javier Herrero after the Supreme Court judge investigating Ábalos and former PSOE number three Santos Cerdán in this same case saw "consistent evidence" against them.

Pardo de Vera and Herrero are scheduled to appear before the National Court on July 21 to clarify whether, as the Supreme Court judge suspects, they assisted the former Minister of Transport, through his then advisor, Koldo García, to ensure that the contracts they planned "could be successfully completed."

According to documents obtained by EFE, during the search of the former Secretary of State for Transport, officers from the Central Operational Unit (UCO) cloned her personal email and seized devices, including a computer, and various documents, some related to mask contracts during the pandemic. They also searched her car.

In the ruling, the judge ordered the officers to seize "all types of documentation and belongings, regardless of their medium" related to the events under investigation, including cash or other means of payment, as well as any other items or materials that may provide evidence of the commission of the aforementioned crimes.

Investigators must now analyze all the seized information and submit it to Judge Ismael Moreno, who is already trying to determine whether, in their positions as presidents of ADIF and the Directorate General of Highways, the two men were able to provide information on files or tenders "following the guidelines that the minister, through his advisor, gave them," as the Supreme Court judge pointed out.

The so-called Koldo case, which began with a focus on mask contracts during the pandemic and has led to alleged irregular public works awards, is being pursued in parallel by the National Court and the Supreme Court, which is investigating Ábalos, for being a member of parliament, and others who are accused of conduct that is inseparable from the former, such as Santos Cerdán, who has been in preventive detention for a week.

Ismael Moreno was already investigating Isabel Pardo de Vera for her alleged involvement in the allegedly irregular hiring of Jéssica Rodríguez, Ábalos's ex-partner, at two public companies.